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2021 Recruiting (1 Schollie Available): JBo back. Filip Rebraca, Riley Mulvey & Payton Sandfort have Signed

At this point, it just feels as though everything Iowa is going to hell in the proverbial hand basket. I would be almost shocked if Luka decides to return.

:)

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247 Crystal Ball has Waukee three-star wing Payton Sandfort to Iowa. Distance is a factor for Sandfort and he wants to stay close to home.

Now that Iowa has lost out on Trey James, if they land Sandfort, are they done for 2021? Or will they still try to find a big for 2021 or will they pivot and focus on 2022?
 
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247 Crystal Ball has Waukee three-star wind Payton Sandfort to Iowa. Distance is a factor for Sandfort and he wants to stay close to home.

Now that Iowa has lost out on Trey James, if they land Sandfort, are they done for 2021? Or will they still try to find a big for 2021 or will they pivot and focus on 2022?

My wild guess.....still going to pursue a Big AND the best player available....taking just one player unless something to good to pass up drops into our lap.
 
Seen some recent AAU clips and DeVries really looks like a player. Don’t disagree about Sandfort being a better shooter. Just a recent observation.
 
247 Crystal Ball has Waukee three-star wing Payton Sandfort to Iowa. Distance is a factor for Sandfort and he wants to stay close to home.

Now that Iowa has lost out on Trey James, if they land Sandfort, are they done for 2021? Or will they still try to find a big for 2021 or will they pivot and focus on 2022?

No way is Iowa done with one player, no matter who it is. Keeping an open scholarship cost the team last season because of a short bench. Two scholarships will be open, and two recruits will be signed.
 
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Hate to see local 4 star talent leave the state.

Emarion committed to Texas on July 28. He had only 4 offers:
Texas
Bryant
Louisiana Tech
Milwaukee


 
This whole thing is a bit confusing. 4 star guy down the road who basically had no offers? Blows up and ends up at Texas?
 
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This whole thing is a bit confusing. 4 star guy down the road who basically had no offers? Blows up and ends up at Texas?

Agreed. The logical inference is that he has some “off the court“ warning signs that caused many programs to not offer. He must have the “on the court” talent.

Smart taking a chance probably escalated him from a 3 to a 4 star. It may work out very well for both parties.
 
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Assuming that we get Payton S.....I feel like that puts us in a good position in the Nixon recruitment. Our staff can just keep working it from a low pressure, we’re sticking with you because we want you to make sure that you make the right choice...take your time, we’ll be right here... Then if we get him great, if not we don’t have to fill that roster spot.
 
Assuming that we get Payton S.....I feel like that puts us in a good position in the Nixon recruitment. Our staff can just keep working it from a low pressure, we’re sticking with you because we want you to make sure that you make the right choice...take your time, we’ll be right here... Then if we get him great, if not we don’t have to fill that roster spot.
Are Payton and Nixon the only real targets for Iowa right now?
 
2432Hawk, thanks for posting that.....He seems to be reasonably athletic and I like the aggressiveness. He appears to have some tools and yet the potential to develop. He looks reasonably strong for a young big guy, but you can see where he could add some muscle.
 
He has 6 offers. Iowa is his only Power 5 offer.


OK, I'll play the devil's advocate....At this stage of McCaffery's tenure, should we really be pursuing recruits with no other P5 offers? I know he has a knack for sniffing out diamonds in the rough, but I doubt many of our conference competitors are stocking their rosters with projects.
 
OK, I'll play the devil's advocate....At this stage of McCaffery's tenure, should we really be pursuing recruits with no other P5 offers? I know he has a knack for sniffing out diamonds in the rough, but I doubt many of our conference competitors are stocking their rosters with projects.

It's a great question. Recruiting is a crapshoot. The kids who are no-brainer, Top 25 aren't coming to Iowa. Frankly, that's not a bad thing, because a program like Iowa can't be sustained off one-and-done players.

With that said, a P5 program can't have sustained success feasting on marginal P5 talent either. The Aaron White stories are rare. So, you're probably right. At this point in his tenure, Fran needs to consistently land bigger fish while sprinkling in guys who are projects and could become invaluable role players, like a Ryan Kriener. Will see how recruiting continues to go, especially if Iowa has a special season this year. But if Iowa continues to rank toward the bottom of recruiting in the B1G Ten, then Fran might need to look into hiring an assistant who is a proven recruiter.
 
OK, I'll play the devil's advocate....At this stage of McCaffery's tenure, should we really be pursuing recruits with no other P5 offers? I know he has a knack for sniffing out diamonds in the rough, but I doubt many of our conference competitors are stocking their rosters with projects.
If Fran feels like he has guys who can start for 2-3 years (Toussaint, Pat, anybody in the most recent class) then it makes sense to backfill those positions with guys who need time to develop their game versus guys expecting to come in and start right away. Obviously you want to get the best players available, but it seems unlikely that Fran will be able to recruit over guys like Joe T, Fredrick, PMac, etc. Of course this means he needs to have a high batting average on these developmental players, otherwise we’re screwed down the road, but I don’t hate the strategy. JMO
 
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OK, I'll play the devil's advocate....At this stage of McCaffery's tenure, should we really be pursuing recruits with no other P5 offers? I know he has a knack for sniffing out diamonds in the rough, but I doubt many of our conference competitors are stocking their rosters with projects.

Fran has signed a top 100 type player five years in a row starting in 2016 with Tyler Cook (I might be stretching that a bit with the 2020 class but Ulis did end up a 4* and ranked 112 by Rivals). If Fran can continue to get one top 100 type player each year and surround them with players that have good upside, its a recipe that can work and has worked in the past. Like football, we'll occasionally land a high level player that most everyone wanted, but its more the exception than the rule. I'll admit I was extremely skeptical of the 2020 class when it was first signed and sealed, but there does seem to be some upside with that group and their best basketball is in front of them.

I will also admit I had hoped we'd see a bump in recruiting with the success of Garza. I think no NCAA tourney hurt us more than other teams last year as I think we would have received a lot of exposure and interest for more high level players in the 2021 class. Lets hope for a full season in 2020/21 and perhaps we'll see a bump in the 2022 recruiting class.
 
I think it is also true that Fran is very picky about who he brings in. He wants hard workers with toughness and leadership ability. Skills are of course very important but so is character. You guys would be surprised at some of the Players he has turned away. He knows what he is doing.
 
Yet, even the Clowns didn't offer him. Maybe he made it clear he wanted to leave the state.
Iowa State got their PG with Top 50 player Tyrese Hunter. My guess was they wanted Hunter more and are only taking 1 PG in the 2021 Class. I could be wrong but that was how I took it.
 
He has 6 offers. Iowa is his only Power 5 offer.

Haven't read anything about this kid bad or good. Has no social media foot print. Which is an oddity in today's world among teens. Not sure if there is mutual interest here. If there is you'd figure a Zoom would have occurred already.
 
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