RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Nice going, Sandy


By RON MALY

At first glance, Ray Giacoletti looks like a good hire as Drake's new basketball coach. He's got head coaching experience and he knows the Missouri Valley Conference. And it won't take him long to know about Drake, which has never been an easy place to coach. I had the fortune of covering the Bulldogs when they played the best basketball in the history of the university. That was in the Maury John coaching era, when the 1968-69 team almost upset eventual national champion UCLA and finished third in the Final Four. I was also fortunate to be able to watch Keno Davis' 2007-2008 team that had a 28-5 record and went to the NCAA tournament. So it can be done at Drake. But it's difficult.  Giacoletti was asked yesterday at his opening press conference what type of athletes he's looking for at Drake. "The first thing we need is to keep the best young men, student-athletes, at Drake University," he said. "This is the first piece of the puzzle that we need to establish. I think that it as important a piece as there is, establishing new relationships and reacquainting myself with high school coaches in the state, AAU coaches, and making that a priority. Then you start to branch a bit, getting into Minnesota, the Chicagoland area, Wisconsin, because I think the midwest has the right values and character that we're looking for in our program. The first step needs to be making a huge impact in the state." It's a nice goal for a major-college coach to zero in on high school recruiting in the state of Iowa, but that's never been a strength at Drake. Maury John had to go far and wide--to Gary, Ind., to get Willie McCarter and Dolph Pulliam out of a high school program, and to junior colleges across America. It was never easy. It won't be easy for Giacoletti. Right now, when it comes to the four major-college programs in the state of Iowa, Drake is No. 4. Obviously, the only way to go is up. It can be done at Drake. I think  athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb made a good choice in Giacoletti, and I wish him well. Other than when coaches such as Maury John, Gary Garner, Tom Davis and Keno Davis were running the show, Drake basketball has suffered much too often in modern times
Courtesy of GoDrzkeBulldogs.com