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Iowa basketball: Four former Hawks who could replace Andrew Francis

By Andrew Wade

COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 30: Assistant Coach Andrew Francis congratulates Mike Gesell #10, both of the Iowa Hawkeyes, after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 71-65 at Value City Arena on December 30, 2014 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 30: Assistant Coach Andrew Francis congratulates Mike Gesell #10, both of the Iowa Hawkeyes, after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 71-65 at Value City Arena on December 30, 2014 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 09: Matt Gatens #5 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives for a shot attempt during the Big Ten Conference game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on January 9, 2011 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue won 75-52. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 09: Matt Gatens #5 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives for a shot attempt during the Big Ten Conference game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on January 9, 2011 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue won 75-52. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Matt Gatens

By now you might be sensing a theme here. Each of these guys is Iowa natives who played exceptional basketball for the Iowa basketball program.

Matt Gatens, an Iowa City native, was a top-100 recruit for the Hawkeyes but unfortunately spent his first two years in coaching purgatory with Todd Lickliter at the helm. His last two seasons were unfortunately wasted away as Fran McCaffery tried to rebuild a broken Iowa basketball program.

Despite all of that, Gatens still had a stellar career statistically scoring 1,635 points, which is the 6th most in program history and he earned All-Big Ten honors twice in his four-year career.

The 6’5” shooting guard played five years of professional basketball before joining the Auburn Tigers in an assistant capacity. This season, Drake’s best season in a decade, Gatens was the Director of Basketball Operations.

As of now, Gatens has the last amount of experience out of these four guys, but he would make for an exciting hire in the Iowa basketball program. He’s worked with skill guards in the past (specifically at Auburn), has professional basketball on his resume, and is a native of Iowa City.

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If Gary Barta is willing to take a risk, the gamble may be worth it, but Barta is likely to go for the other three guys on this list before he makes his way to Gatens. With a few more years working with Darian DeVries, Gatens could be a more likely candidate in the future.

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