It was reported that Alford called recruit Jake Kelly on the day Alford signed with New Mexico and asked him to come to UNM, in spite of Kelly having signed a letter of intent with Iowa. I hope the NCAA is paying attention to this.
Archive for March, 2007
27
Mar
Alford’s Sour Grapes
Over on Dan Patrick’s radio show, they had Steve Alford sharing some sour grapes about Iowa. His chief complaint was Iowa is a football school. He tried to get a weight room and practice facilities and never got them, while the football program got whatever they wanted. That hurt recruiting and kept him from doing a good job.
Maybe Steve and Lute and get together and bitch about the restaurants some time.
It is official, Alford is taking the New Mexico job. All I have to say about that is, you think it is hard to recruit in Iowa?
So who’s next? I think most people’s dream candidate has to Dana Altman from Creighton. He’s developed a great program there and he has expressed some interest in the Iowa job. Other names that are being discussed:
Tony Bennett, Washington St. He has Big 10 ties as a former assistant at Wisconsin. WSU had a great year under him, but do we want another on the job training coach?
Tom Crean, Marquette. I can’t see this one happening. He is paid very well and Marquette is in the Big East. I don’t think he’d be interested.
Lon Kruger, UNLV. This is one name that I would rather not be on the list. How many head coaching jobs has he had? He does have Big 10 ties.
Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois. I wouldn’t have considered this a possibility until I watched the Salukis give KU all they could handle. I really like his style of play and he would do well in the Big 10. His inexperience worries me.
Lorenzo Romar, Washington. This is a stretch too, mostly based on his connections to Barta. Iowa wouldn’t be a step up for him.
BJ Armstrong. This is a stretch too. As much as he may now about basketball and how ever strong his Iowa ties are, he has no head coaching experience or recruiting experience.
