Iowa lands former Villanova PG Lucy Olsen
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Yeah she’s a good defender. Needs to bring something offensively though. When Gabby couldn’t hit a 3, regardless of how good her defense was, it wasn’t making up for her shooting woes.
Guyton is going to be a great PG. I don't think she's likely to see the floor next year tho. I think a red shirt is likely. She'll miss too much of the summer to learn the system. Bluder's system is unique. It'll be hard to jump in in December. Stremlow will be a good reserve PG. We need good role players and she can be that. Levin I'm not sure will really ever be an impact player for Iowa.
We have a very agile 6'4 Center coming in from Oregon who is ready to get physical on the block and run the floor. She is the 4th best C in her class according to ESPN. She is the type of player Bluder has been waiting for. She should thrive in Bluder's sytem and I suspect Bluder plans to run as much offenese through her as she can handle, as quickly as possible. She may not start in November but unless O'Grady explodes, I'll be shocked if Heiden doesn't jump her by January.
Olsen, Feuerbach, Affolter, Stueke, O'Grady. Expect minutes from McCabe (2), Mallegni (2/3), Gyamfi (3/4), Heiden (5). I think those are gonna be the 9 we roll with. There's a chance Stremlow plays from reserve minutes at the 1 but I won't hold my breath.
Honestly this is exactly what Iowa should do. Bluder is shooting for a Top 5 class in 2025 and 2026, if not Top 3. She has 3 very warm targets in each class. 2 of each in the Top 25, 1 of each in the Top 15. She's competing with LSU, UConn, Notre Dame, Texas, UCLA (to name a few) for these kids. Again we have already signed Addie Deal, the #12/#5 kid in the class of 2025. This is an opportunity -- and one with outsize ROI, IMO (less $$ needed when compared to FB/MBB).
Feuerbach is lightning quick and very scrappy. But you're right, she needs to work on the her handles and she needs to learn how to slow down. And she needs to work on her passing (handles again). She also needs to work on her shooting lol. I think the shooting is the easy part though. Bluder and Raina can get her to 33%.
I think I agree. Bluder trusts her. And she believes in her. She has gotten minutes since day 1 as a Hawkeye and she stayed in the rotation all year, through the NC game. Bluder repeateadly gave her the green light to shoot even when she was cold for game after game. She needs more minutes. She needs to hunt for her shot. It's easy to forget she missed a whole season.
I will say though -- as Devil's advocate in defense of McCabe -- that the last two summers, there was a WBB meet-and-greet. At each one, players were asked which teammate had taken the biggest leap in the off-season. In 2022, Affolter was the most popular answer. She got into the lineup in 2022-2023 but didn't breakout til 2023-2024. In 2023, McCabe was the overwhelming answer (I believe it was unanimous actually). In 2023-2024 she, like Affolter before her, also worked her way into the rotation. Hopefiully she continues in Affolter's footsteps for 2024-2025.
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how good can this team realistically be next season? what a crazy, fun, 2 years it's been....
I think they can certainly compete to host the first two rounds + be a contender for a Sweet 16. Round of 32 is a very realistic expectation. I think they can also beat Iowa State, KU, TN and VA Tech in their early season games.
Nothing is guaranteed -- they certainly will have some bumps in the road. But the potential is there. Hannah, Sydney, Kylie all have to want it and have to work for it. They need to step into their roles, be ready to make big plays. They're upperclassmen, they should be ready for the challenge. The reality though is all of these kids now have to make a major adjustment -- they've only ever played behind and around a star player. Everything ran through her. Now they have to step out and be impact players themselves.
O'Grady, McCabe and Gyamfi need to improve as well as role players. This could be a deep team and a pretty successful season if everyone puts in the work and the chemistry comes along. We're lucky that everyone but Lucy knows the system and their role in it.
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He was 15th in assists in the country last year and I like his size at 6’3” for a point guard.
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I'm not counting out any of the freshmen until the summer sorts it out. Never truly know what you have until they are on the floor with the rest of the team.
*Stuelke needs to get a short jumper into her game. It would be a pretty big thing for this team to have that shot from high post.
*Stuelke needs to get a short jumper into her game. It would be a pretty big thing for this team to have that shot from high post.
when I read "Ava," I immediately thought of 6'2" Ava Jones....
2 mobile bigs capable of running the court. 3 point shooters all over the place. Let 'er rip Randy!
She’ll play in front of a few more fans next year. That probably had something to do with it. That has to be exciting.
As a MBB 'first' fan, I am so fugging jealous of how the WBB program has been going & trending for the past 2.5-3+ years.
(thanks Fran)
(thanks Fran)
my only drawback on feurbach is about once or twice a game, she gets the ball wide open at the free throw line and looks desperate to find someone to pass to. Completely ignored an open shot at the basket.
I really like Lucy Olson's style of play. She is relentless and has a terrific motor. She just goes and goes. Against good competition. Whether against Marquette or UConn, she is fearless.
I disagree. I think Gabbie's defense has been a major part of our success the last two years.
As for her offensive performance, Gabbie created space on the floor, just by being there. Teams had to respect her shooting because when she was on she was deadly. This is the only concern that I have wrt Kylie. If teams sag off Kylie and they don't respect her perimeter game, and she can't knock down threes to make them pay, then I think we will see more Taylor.
In a perfect world, Kylie will get more under control and Taylor will improve her ball handling and the game will slow down for both of them. Both of them are going to get a lot more minutes next year and I expect both to improve a lot between now and next march.
Personally, I think the absolute biggest thing that needs to happen between now and next year is Hannah needs to develop a consistent outside shot. I've been told she is making great strides in that department and expect we will see her become more of an outside threat next year. We need that if we're going to play her at the four which is where I think she belongs.
Final Women's Coaches Polls last 6 yrs: Iowa Hawkeyes Final Rank and NCAA Tourney
2024- #2 Championship Game
2023- #2 Championship Game
2022- #14 Second Round
2021- #19 Sweet 16
2020- #23 Covid No Tourney
2019- #8 Elite 8
I can't believe we were ranked so low to end 2020!! We beat Indiana, Maryland and Ohio State (others too but those were the flashiest ones and those programs still have the same cachet) that year and went undefeated at home. We would have been at least a 4 seed had the tourney happened.
I think this all starts and stops with what you thought of Gabby🤷♂️ and honestly if it’s even questionable to you, a more inexperienced “gunner” was going to be capable of making plays on both ends of the court? In those environments, WTH?
25 ft bombs….✔️
Big shots, catches, passes, blocks, lockdowns…
No…and not a crime, shes very young. She’ll get her chance.
Just a guess, but I’d wager analytics and casual scouts, would consider Feurbach to still have more + metrics & upside.
But again, just my opinion 🤷♂️
Yes, she was our with an ankle injury for basically all summer before her freshman year. Missed way too much to get caught up (it's why I'm so doubtful Guyton will be able to). Then her sophomore year she just got buried in the depth chart. She can play the 3/4 but Kate, Sydney, Hannah, Kylie and Gabbie got all the minutes at those positions this year.
There is an ex-Iowa football player on Reddit who claims to be well-connected with the athletics department and he said he has heard Bluder and staff are very high on Jada for next year. Which makes sense -- she can shoot the ball and she has size. She made a very impressive transition 3 in one of the European games.
I like her shot. Imo, she shoots a "true jumpshot." She jumps first then makes her stroke, thus seems to get a little "hang time" a la PB on her mid-rangers.
The scissored legs don't bother me either ... until I see her miss one and I'll be muttering "she's so off balance." 😉
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I really think Lucy will lead Iowa to a lot of wins & just when @EvilMonkeyInTheCloset thinks he finally has that national championship within reach....
I really think Lucy will lead Iowa to a lot of wins & just when @EvilMonkeyInTheCloset thinks he finally has that national championship within reach....
Lucy in Villanova blue and Charlie in Hawkeye gold and black. Perfect. But are we going to get Proctored again?
Have you ever heard that is where ESPN is located and they do have a few million dollars to help out the sports departments at Conn.!!!
Do you have proof to share that ESPN donates millions to UConn Athletics Dept. I would think that would be a huge conflict of interest for a sports network that can televise their games could donate to the school.
The reason I say that is announcers like Kirk Herbstreit when he is on ESPN cannot even say who he thinks will be the winner of a game he is going to be working on. Kirk cant do that yet ESPN can donate millions to one athletic dept. I dont believe it unless I see evidence. I did a google search about espn donating to Uconn athletics and found nothing.
You do realize we start next wrestling season ranked #1 and are the current National Champions.
Lean is not a word I would use to describe Maddyn....she is a big girl. Probably kick all of our asses in a fight.
(Big girl is not a negative in any way....she looks like a bad ass linebacker for some reason....a linebacker with the ball in her hands. I think in the NFL they call players like that Tight Ends)
Womens I think is where he was going with that.
Pretty sneaky! Should be interesting to see how that program develops
re: Greenway. Not tall but plays fearless and her athleticism really stands out. I expect Bluder to hand her the ball day one if/when she arrives at Iowa.
I think AOG had more problems with CC22 on the floor than she did when CC22 was out (which wasn't often). She seemed more comfortable catching the ball on entry feeds than when CC22 was rifling passes to her, or expecting AOG to be places AOG hadn't thought about. Also there will be less pressure on AOG in the low post, especially if she is playing along side Hannah.
I read that Heiden was heading to Iowa a day afyer her graduation. She'll have time to adapt to Iowa City and her teammates. Plus daily workouts and training.
Way to make a whole bunch of shit up in your first paragraph, well done.
My whole premise has been
Taylor McCabes offense/3pt shooting+defense > kylie feurbachs offense+defense
And that’s because kylies offensive game is nearly nonexistent while taylor is actually a competent defender.
Gabby was a huge reason for our push to the championship game because she was actually making her 3’s. You think if she was out there missing shots like she did most of the regular season she would’ve been an asset strictly because of her D? I do not. And I think that’s what we get from kylie without improvement from her offensive game.
Needs to get stronger with the ball. She also needs to reduce driving into double coverage which resulted in many of her turnovers. I really like her length and athletism.
This feels different than the Proctor situation but you can't say the chances of it happening are zero so....
Transfer portal still sucks, even when it works in Iowa's favor. Villanova helped make Lucy what she is today and she screwed them (and her Villanova teammates) over. The overall college sports product is far worse off with the current transfer rules.
