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Iowa WBB Class of 2026 Recruiting Thread

This is overdue, but in an effort to make recruiting information easier to find I'm starting a separate thread for the class of 2026. Here are some of Iowa's top targets in the class:

Maddyn Greenway
Basic Information: 5'8" point guard from Plymouth, Minnesota
Ranking: #17 in ESPN's Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Iowa, UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Iowa State, Minnesota, Creighton, TCU
Iowa Visits: Many, including Iowa's recent game against Ohio State

Jenica Lewis
Basic Information: 5'10" guard from Johnston, Iowa
Ranking: #23 in ESPN's Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Iowa, UCLA, USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa State, Miami, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, TCU, Kansas State, Baylor, Nebraska
Iowa Visits: Several, including the Crossover at Kinnick and Iowa's game against Ohio State

Addison Bjorn
Basic Information: 6'2" guard/forward from Kansas City, Missouri
Ranking: #8 in ESPN's Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Iowa, UConn, Stanford, Notre Dame, Texas, Maryland, Ohio State, UCLA, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Baylor, Oregon, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Michigan, Iowa State, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, TCU, Kansas State, Oklahoma
Iowa Visits: At least three, including vs. Ohio State

Trinity Jones
Basic Information: 6'2' guard/forward from Bolingbrook, Illinois
Ranking: #7 in ESPN's Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Iowa, South Carolina, LSU, UCLA, Louisville, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Baylor, TCU, Illinois, Michigan State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Michigan
Iowa Visits: October 21, 2023

Other Targets

Ava Miles

Basic Information: 6'0' guard from Kansas City, Missouri
Ranking: Not Ranked in ESPN's Top 25 for the Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Iowa, Colorado, Kansas State, Nebraska, Creighton, Oklahoma State, Kansas, West Virginia, Auburn, Pittsburgh
Iowa Visits: Multiple, last known February 27, 2023

Ashlyn Koupal (no Iowa offer Yet)
Basic Information: 6'3" guard/forward from Wagner, South Dakota
Ranking: Not ranked amongst ESPN's Top 25 in the Class of 2026
Notable Offer List: Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa State, Creighton
Iowa Visits: March 3, 2024 -- Iowa's game vs. Ohio State

Natalie Kussow
Basic Information: 5'11' guard from Wisconsin
Ranking: Ranked #22 by ESPN
Iowa Visits: October 2022
Info: Kussow keeps her recruitment quieter than most top recruits. I haven't seen info of her taking a more recent visit than October 2022.

Top Targets With Offers But No Visits (Rankings are from ESPN)

Olivia Vukosa (New York)- #2
Brihanna Crittendon (Colorado)- #10
Sanai Green (Virginia)- #15
Amari Byles (Texas)- #16

2026 In-State SF Jaidyn Coon Building Relationships with Iowa

Got some great stuff from Jaidyn, his mom and his head coach yesterday.

One of the top prospects in Iowa, Coon is looking for a family when he commits. In that respect, Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes have gotten off to a solid start.

STORY:

#1000pages FSU Third Natty (Women’s Soccer 2021 & 2023, and Cheerleading 2023 achieved)

Possibly by the end of the week. We’ve reached an agreement with a candidate and the final contract is being drawn up as we speak. It should be signed either by the end of this week or the beginning of the next one. There’s still some things that might pop up that could scuttle it, but I’d say it’s about 95-99% likely based on the inside scoop I’m hearing.

I was “sworn to secrecy” about who it is but I can say 90-95% of the fans will be happy with the switch. The remainder will be only those few who still loved Taggart, those who want O’Dell to take over a top flight position (as this signing will prove) without real experience as a HC and the NFL geeks who wanted Sanders with no real HC experience. The only hints I’ll add is that if it goes through as expected no one can say FSU is being cheap and some broadcast media are going to look foolish.

I was told that while the official final contract is being drawn up and reviewed, we will continue interviewing candidates just in case something goes wrong last minute so we’re not stuck with Norvell or Mark Stoops and that those meetings may be leaked not to add pressure to the one we’re waiting on a signed contract with but to show due diligence to the fan base and media.
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PREVIEW: Iowa MBB vs Utah

WHO: Utah Utes (8-2)
WHEN: 5:00 PM CT (Saturday, December 21, 2024)
WHERE: Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, SD)
TV: BTN (Chris Vosters and Shon Morris)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bobby Hansen)
MOBILE: foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @HawkeyeBeacon | @IowaHoops | @CBBonFOX | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Iowa -1.5 (total of 163.5 points)
KENPOM: Iowa -3 (Iowa 58% chance of winning)

On Saturday, Iowa will face its final non-conference test of the season (though there's still one more cupcake on the menu -- a visit from New Hampshire on December 30), and play the third of its three neutral-site games in the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Hawkeyes prevailed over Washington State in Moline, but fell to Utah State in Kansas City; now they'll try to take down Utah in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

READ MORE:

Celebrating losing close

What is wrong with some of us? I'm quite disappointed by the amount of people celebrating losing close to Michigan and ISU. Teams don't make the tournament by losing close games. Iowa dropped 11 spots in the NET by losing last night. Even 1-1 in the last two drastically improves the analytics. Those who keep saying Iowa will be alright, will be really disappointed come March 17th when Iowa is on the Vegas postseason tournament.

Ya’ll getting some time off this holiday season?

I’m a couple hours away from being on vacation for rest of the year. Might check in a little Monday, but nothing big. Much needed break. It’s probably my favorite time of year for a staycation as they call it. It seems more acceptable to just stay in your pajamas and sleep in during the holidays than it does any other time of year. I’ve tried it. On a Tuesday in July, it just feels wrong and I feel guilty. Not this time of year so that is what I’m going to do.

How about you? You getting some time off? What are your plans?

Big Ten Women's Scores, Standings & Schedule (12/20)

December 20
#1 UCLA 70, Creighton 41
#11 Ohio State 84, Stanford 59
Alabama 82, #15 Michigan State 67
#20 Michigan 96, Akron 55
Iowa 92, Northern Iowa 86
Wisconsin 69, Albany 59
Illinois 69, Southern 57
College of Charleston 68, Northwestern 62
Minnesota 96, Prairie View A&M 57

Standings
1. Indiana (8-3, 1-0)
1. Maryland (11-0, 1-0)
1. Michigan (10-2, 1-0)
1. Michigan State (11-1, 1-0)
1. Nebraska (10-1, 1-0)
1. Ohio State (12-0, 1-0)
1. UCLA (12-0, 1-0)
1. USC (10-1, 1-0)
1. Wisconsin (10-2, 1-0)
10. Illinois (10-2, 0-1)
10. Iowa (10-2, 0-1)
10. Minnesota (12-1, 0-1)
10. Northwestern (6-5, 0-1)
10. Oregon (9-3, 0-1)
10. Penn State (9-3, 0-1)
10. Purdue (6-5, 0-1)
10. Rutgers (7-4, 0-1)
10. Washington (9-4, 0-1)

Games for Saturday, December 21
Northwestern vs. Howard (at Philadelphia) (10:00 AM - ESPN+)
Lafayette at Rutgers (11:00 AM - BTN+)
Indiana State at Purdue (1:00 PM - BTN+)
#23 Nebraska at #17 Georgia Tech (4:30 PM - ACC Extra)
#7 USC at #4 Connecticut (7:00 PM - FOX)

Bombshell Report - Mentally fatigued Biden skipped call from concerned pol before disastrous Afghanistan American Military Surrender: report

The true story behind America's biggest military surrender is now told.

President Biden was so mentally fatigued that he skipped out on a phone call from the chair of the powerful House Armed Services Committee ahead of the US’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a report.

Biden, the oldest president in US history, was incredibly hard to reach — even for lawmakers in his own party — as his aides attempted to keep Biden’s evident mental and physical decline under tight wraps, a bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal revealed.

That inaccessibility proved to be immensely consequential for one of the administration’s biggest snafus that would mar the remainder of Biden’s presidency.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, had tried to contact the president in 2021 to share his concerns about the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Smith said he was worried about the administration’s optimistic comments about pulling out from Afghanistan — which, after working extensively on the issue, the congressman believed would be significantly more difficult than White House officials were letting on and wanted to share his findings.

“I was begging them to set expectations low,” Smith told the Journal — but he couldn’t get the commander-in-chief on the phone.

Thirteen US service members and more than 170 Afghans were killed in the chaotic evacuation in August 2021, which ended the longest conflict in US history and left the Taliban victorious and in charge.

The US also abandoned some $7 billion in weapons and other military equipment.

In the aftermath, Smith commented to the Washington Post that Biden’s administration lacked a “clear-eyed view” of the toppled US-backed government’s durability.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, enraged over Smith’s remarks, called the congressman to chew his ear— but Smith ultimately ended up giving it back to Blinken, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blinken would later accept responsibility for the Afghanistan catastrophe.

Soon afterward, Smith also received an apologetic call from Biden — the only call Biden made to Smith in his four years in the White House.

“The Biden White House was more insulated than most,” Smith said. “I spoke with Barack Obama on a number of occasions when he was president and I wasn’t even chairman of the committee.”

Biden would alter or cancel scheduled meetings depending on whether he appeared up to the task beginning almost as soon as he was in office, the Journal reported.

A national security official told an aide in the spring of 2021 that the president “has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow.”

Meetings were often scheduled for later in the day — a fact first revealed after Biden’s awful debate performance against former President Donald Trump, when staff admitted the then-Democratic nominee had difficulty functioning outside a six-hour window that closed around 4 p.m. daily.


The Afghanistan blunder would be a glaring stain on Biden’s record for the remainder of his tenure and was a major talking point for his now-successor, President-elect Trump, on the campaign trail.

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