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Amarion Nimmers Practice Highlights are IMPRESSIVE. On Aug 3, enters Transfer Portal

The only things we didn't see were his defense(not that it a prerequisite for playing time) or his ability to dish. I agree from what we can see he has starter level ability.
Theres some defense in the video too.

It takes a couple years to get the Fran union card so don't expect to see him play next year.
 
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Listen I'm not going to stand here and say Fran or our defense is what they need to be. But we cannot argue that we've won 58 BIG games and a BIG tourney championship over the past 5 years with both Fran and his defense. To say that our defense is not BIG level is nonsense. We need to be better to get to the next level, I agree with that.

I agree that Iowa has had a lot of success over the last 5 years, to which Fran deserves a lot of credit. The last 5 years has produced a better overall winning % and Big Ten winning % than Lute had while at Iowa. Pretty impressive!

But, as it relates to defense, I think Fran deserves his share of criticism. Iowa's defensive efficiency rank out of 14 Big Ten teams the last 5 years:
  • '23: 13th
  • '22: 9th
  • '21: 13th
  • '20: 12th
  • '19: 14th
That's an average of 12th out of 14 every year. This year's team was the 3rd worst of all Big Ten teams in the last 5 years. They have been brutal defensively for a long time.
 
Driving and dishing. Nailing 3's. Driving and pulling up for mid range jumpers. Easily beating defenders off the dribble. Impressive hops. My god, he even makes Mulvey look good. ;)

Check this out & watch:

Is this real life? I don't care who is playing defense, we 100% could've used him this year, my goodness! Yes, I need to temper expectations and it's practice however he oozes talent that we see ALL THE TIME in March after we've been sent packing. Only 1 way to find out...get him in there! He most likely gets a ride next fall, no?

Maybe the best part? Kid is at least 6'2 and with that high level athleticism and those handles screams potential!
 
On the plus side, he reminds me of Tyger Campbell and he handles the rock well with both hands. On the down side, he has no left hand near the basket. That's a serious flaw in an otherwise good offensive skill set.
 
Philadelphia 76Ers Basketball GIF
 
If he is actually this good, he should have had his redshirt pulled when we lost our first 3 big 10 games.

Highlight is impressive, hope yo see him on the court a lot next year.

Maybe we lose Riley and Josh, but bring in Brauns and promote Amarion to scholarship. That seems like a realistic scenario.
 
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I live in the Quad Cities area and have seen Amarion play. He is freakishly athletic. He can light it up on offense and I saw him make some unbelievable defensive plays. He can jump out of the gym. He will earn some minutes. Brock has played against him in the WB6.
If he is actually this good, he should have had his redshirt pulled when we lost our first 3 big 19 games.

Highlight is impressive, hope yo see him on the court a lot next year.

Maybe we lose Riley and Josh, but bring in Brauns and promote Amarion to scholarship. That seems like a realistic scenario.
If I recall correctly, the book on him was that he was a total athletic freak, as Longgrover said, but he couldn't shoot worth a darn. I think he wanted to take the redshirt to improve his shooting skills. Mission accomplished based on that video. I hope that segment is indicative of what he can accomplish at the high-major D1 level.
 
I think I’ll take some turnovers if it means he can add pressure on any defense to defend the perimeter and the drive. Gosh when iowa shot 6/54 from 3 and had so many underwhelming games from guard play how did he not consider burning that red shirt. This kid looks like he could develop into something. Bowen showed flashes early too but eh. Frans teams can not really win consistently if they can’t shot well I wish Fran would mix up the rotation during extended dry spells.
 
If I recall correctly, the book on him was that he was a total athletic freak, as Longgrover said, but he couldn't shoot worth a darn. I think he wanted to take the redshirt to improve his shooting skills. Mission accomplished based on that video. I hope that segment is indicative of what he can accomplish at the high-major D1 level.

As a HS SR he shot 62% FG and 44% 3FG.
 
Is this real life? I don't care who is playing defense, we 100% could've used him this year, my goodness! Yes, I need to temper expectations and it's practice however he oozes talent that we see ALL THE TIME in March after we've been sent packing. Only 1 way to find out...get him in there! He most likely gets a ride next fall, no?

Maybe the best part? Kid is at least 6'2 and with that high level athleticism and those handles screams potential!


I would be curious on what his vertical is. And not sure how it will all shake out as far as getting him on scholarship. You can have 13 on scholarship and we currently have 0 scholarships available for next season. Granted, that will change when Kris announces. Will we have any other early departures? Until then, this is where things stand:

2023-2024 Roster (13 on Scholarship; 0 scholarships available):

FRESHMEN: 4 players


6"10" C Owen Freeman
6'0" PG Brock Harding
6'7" SF Pryce Sandfort
6'8" PF Ladji Dembele


SOPHOMORES: 2 players

6'3" PG Dasonte Bowen
6'5" SG Josh Dix


JUNIORS: 2 players

6'7" F Payton Sandfort
6'11" C Riley Mulvey


SENIORS: 5 players

6'4" G Tony Perkins
6'2" G Ahron Ulis
6'8" F Kris Murray
6'9" SF Patrick McCaffery
6'11" C Josh Ogundele


4 Notable Walk on players:

SENIORS: 1 player


Dante Eldridge (assistant coach Courtney Eldridge's son)--walk on.


JUNIORS: 1 player


Luc Laketa--preferred walk on.


SOPHOMORES: 1 players

Carter Kingsbury--preferred walk on.


FRESHMEN: 1 player

Amarion Nimmers--preferred walk on.
 
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Seriously, was that video edited? What the story on this kid?

Nimmers had ONE scholarship offer: from Eastern Illinois.

Iowa, Drake, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, North Dakota, Northeastern, Pennsylvania and South Dakota were all showing interest but never offered a full ride.

On May 1, 2022, Nimmers committed to Iowa as a preferred walk on.
 
we 100% could've used him this year, my goodness! ..

Why wasn’t he playing this year?


What the story on this kid?


If he is actually this good, he should have had his redshirt pulled when we lost our first 3 big 19 games.


If I recall correctly, the book on him was that he was a total athletic freak, as Longgrover said, but he couldn't shoot worth a darn. I think he wanted to take the redshirt to improve his shooting skills. Mission accomplished based on that video. I hope that segment is indicative of what he can accomplish at the high-major D1 level.

Gosh when iowa shot 6/54 from 3 and had so many underwhelming games from guard play how did he not consider burning that red shirt.


Nimmers was dealing with a wrist injury. At the same time, they wanted to (1) maintain eligibility for him on the back end; his eligibility does not run out until 2027; (2) give him a year to get adjusted; (3) give him a year to learn the system; and (4) have him continue to develop as a player.

The story from the Quad Cities Times:

Hawkeyes' Nimmers will Redshirt
Steve Batterson
Nov 14, 2022

Amarion Nimmers will redshirt this season for the University of Iowa men's basketball team, a decision that is more about his future than the present.

The freshman walk-on from Rock Island has dealt with a wrist injury in recent weeks but coach Fran McCaffery said Monday the ultimate decision came down to what the 6-foot-2 guard can become as a player as he gains experience.

“It makes no sense for a walk-on to play his first year," McCaffery said. “You look at the track record of Austin Ash, Michael Baer, Darius Stokes, Riley Till, even guys like Kyle Denning who we ended up giving a scholarship to as we did with Austin, you want to maintain that eligibility on the back end, give him a year to get adjusted, to learn the system."

In Nimmers’ case, it also provides him with an opportunity to continue his development as a player.

McCaffery said he sees potential in Nimmers’ game.

“It enables him to take advantage of five years to play four if he wants to. If he wants to graduate, he can, but I think you know when he’s 22 he’ll be a pretty darn good player," McCaffery said.

“It will either be playing here or playing somewhere else. He’ll have options and I think I have the responsibility to make sure he has options."

A wrist injury suffered during preseason camp prevented Nimmers from playing in Iowa's preseason exhibition game and he had his right wrist wrapped while watching Friday's win over North Carolina A&T from a spot on the bench.

McCaffery said Monday that Nimmers' wrist "is fine."

Nimmers chose to take a walk-on opportunity at Iowa after averaging 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and two steals per game last season at Rock Island.

The second-leading scorer in the history of the Rocks program to former Stanford guard Chasson Randle, Nimmers led the Western Big 6 Conference in scoring the past two seasons.

With McCaffery in the stands at Rock Island Fieldhouse to watch an opposing team’s player last December, Nimmers established a school single-game scoring record with a 45-point performance last season against Dubuque Hempstead.

 
Driving and dishing. Nailing 3's. Driving and pulling up for mid range jumpers. Easily beating defenders off the dribble. Impressive hops. My god, he even makes Mulvey look good. ;)

Check this out & watch:

Out there looking like a little gold ray of hawkeye combo guard hope! And what everyone thought DJ Carton was gonna look like..
 
The good news is that judging by this video our deep bench backups and walk-ons would have beaten our starters and main rotation players this past season.

It is a highlight video, the kid looks like he has a lot of tools and abilities. What I'd be interested in seeing is how many mistakes are there for every highlight? Also, he did that against our defense. Just watching that video you can see how our defense doesn't look good in games. They don't look good in practice either. Too much watching, reaching, and being out of position.
 
The good news is that judging by this video our deep bench backups and walk-ons would have beaten our starters and main rotation players this past season.

It is a highlight video, the kid looks like he has a lot of tools and abilities. What I'd be interested in seeing is how many mistakes are there for every highlight? Also, he did that against our defense. Just watching that video you can see how our defense doesn't look good in games. They don't look good in practice either. Too much watching, reaching, and being out of position.
 
I will start by saying that this is most likely a pie in the sky conjecture....99% sure it won't be the case, BUT:

Hawk Central Headline about Huge Turnover on the Iowa roster....maybe one of the starting guards knows that Nimmers will play this year and from practice experience thinks it would be beneficial to transfer....Having that happen with Nimmers would be almost like beating out Eastern Illinois for the Murray's!!!
 
I will start by saying that this is most likely a pie in the sky conjecture....99% sure it won't be the case, BUT:

Hawk Central Headline about Huge Turnover on the Iowa roster....maybe one of the starting guards knows that Nimmers will play this year and from practice experience thinks it would be beneficial to transfer....Having that happen with Nimmers would be almost like beating out Eastern Illinois for the Murray's!!!
Just think how badly we would have lost to Eastern Illinois if the Murray's were on Eastern Illinois.
 
Driving and dishing. Nailing 3's. Driving and pulling up for mid range jumpers. Easily beating defenders off the dribble. Impressive hops. My god, he even makes Mulvey look good. ;)

Check this out & watch:

Thanks for posting and as you said the hawks really need a quick, penetrating guard who can pass well and finish scoring at three distances on the court. I hope this kid at 6'2" is the real deal.

Did he walk on because of no offers or that he is a big hawk fan?
 
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That doesn't seem like enough to not to offer a high end athlete.

Could be a non basketball reason.
That's my thought, after all Kris pretty much refused to use his off hand for any shots and it became predictable and easier to stop. Didn't mean he wasn't scholarship athlete though.
 
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That's my thought, after all Kris pretty much refused to use his off hand for any shots and it became predictable and easier to stop. Didn't mean he wasn't scholarship athlete though.
Patrick cannot use his left hand. Almost never saw Filip use his left hand. Connor never used his right hand. It happens and many, many players get rides to college.
 
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