Saturday, March 6, 2010

Are McDermott's Days as Iowa State Coach Numbered?

Greg McDermott was a successful coach at the University of Northern Iowa. He took teams to the NCAA tournament and was a coach on the rise.

McDermott left Northern Iowa after the 2005 season and headed south and west to Ames, Iowa and Iowa State. But the success McDermott had at Northern Iowa has not followed him to Iowa State. In fact, many Iowa State fans wonder about the direction and future of the program.

McDermott's overall record is 58-67 in his fourth season. The Cyclones play their final regular season game at Kansas State today and that looks like another loss. If Iowa State does lose, it will finish the Big 12 race at 3-13 and drop to 14-17 overall.

McDermott hasn't had a winning season in Ames. His best mark was in his first season when Iowa State went 15-16 (6-10 in the Big 12).

This was suppose to be McDermott's breakout year with preseason All-American Craig Brackins returning and a talented junior college player in Marquis Gilstap coming on aboard.

But it hasn't happened. Injuries, a player defection (Lucca Staiger left during the season to play professionally in Germany)and frankly poor play have doomed the Cyclones.

The question is can McDermott turn this around and compete in the Big 12 Conference.

One thing that definitely need changing in the program is player defections. This has been a big problem under McDermott for who really knows why.

It's hard to gauge the Iowa State athletic administration on McDermott. He has a contract through 2015.

I think he is safe in his job for another year. But next year, McDermott better show some positive results or his days at Iowa State could be in serious jeopardy.

What do you think about McDermott's status?

1 comment:

Paul Delger said...

As I expected, Iowa State announced today that McDermott will return next season. The upset win over Kansas State Saturday night was a big help to McDermott's cause.