Chad Leistikow on Bakari Evelyn's commitment
- Thread starter NevadaHawk
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Yes, most national folks will have Iowa anywhere from 9-14 in predicted league standings. I would put a friendly wager that the consensus on Iowa's predicted conference finish will be 9 or 10. Look at the roster of the other teams in the league. No one (who will be predicted for the top half of the league) has as many question marks as Iowa will/does in the backcourt. I too like Iowa's collection of talent between Garza, Kriener, Nunge and Pemsl. But from the outside looking in, the only one in that group that has shown any consistency at being an above-average Big 10 player is Garza. So when an outside person is looking at Iowa for next year they see Garza and Wieskamp, both good players who can reasonably be expected to be even better next year. The rest of the team is a big set of unproven players. That's the reality and why Iowa will not be predicted to do much.
The good news is the prognostications mean nothing.
Yes, agree with you on the back court issues excluding Wieskamp.
I actually think moving the 3 point line out is going to be an advantage for Iowa. It will open up the block for Garza to work in there. I am thinking he will have a large year.
His stats against P6 teams clearly show that he's not the type of player who can score at will against anyone. Obviously we should temper our expectations for this kid. But I'm not going to hold it against him that he didn't have great games against P6 teams, because he was playing alongside mid-major talent at a struggling program. (I'm not going to count his freshman year at Nebraska because he barely played.) Valparaiso was not a good team those years. At Iowa he'll have more talent around him, and that will take away a lot of pressure. I didn't watch Valparaiso, so I can't evaluate Evelyn's play in those five games except for what the box score and recaps say. In reverse chronology:
Junior year
12/19/18, at Texas A&M: 10 pts on 2-9, 6 TOs, 2 AST – Valpo got blasted, 71-49. Evelyn was the team's leading scorer. After the game, Valpo coach Matt Lottich said TAMU's players were "more athletic across the board."
11/24/18, at West Virginia: 10 pts on 4-11, 2 TOs, 4 AST – Valpo lost, 88-76. Evelyn was fourth on the team in scoring. The leading scorer was center Derrik Smits. The game was close until WVa pulled away in the second half.
11/18/18, neutral site vs. Wake Forest: 3 pts on 1-9, 2 TO, 4 AST – Valpo lost a close one, 69-63. Smits was the only player to have much going that game, scoring 23. Despite not scoring much, Evelyn still tied for most minutes played at 37.
Sophomore year
12/14/17, at Northwestern: 2 pts on 1-5, 4 TO, 2 AST – Northwestern won, 84-50. Valpo's leading scorer did not play due to illness. Vic Law caught fire for the Wildcats. Only two Valpo players hit double figures. Evelyn struggled just like the rest of the team.
12/7/17, at Purdue: 3 pts on 1-5, 4 TO, 1 AST – The Boilermakers crushed Valpo, 80-50. Only two Valpo players hit double figures.
What do I make of this? Well, Valparaiso was not particularly athletic overall, and pretty much the whole team struggled in these games, all on the road against teams with superior overall talent. Evelyn was not the primary option on the team, but he did routinely play a large percentage of the team's minutes. That tells me that, while he didn't light up the stat sheet, he was doing enough things well that the head coach wanted him on the floor. His two most productive games were also his last two, though he was still inefficient, which tells me that he improved as a player.
Evelyn could very well struggle in the Big Ten. He certainly needs to improve his shooting percentage. But I think having more talent around him will help. I don't know if his TOs came from getting his pocket picked, or making bad passes, or traveling, or what. That might be something that can be cleaned up.
My guess is he's saying spacing will be improved as it draws the defense further away from the basket. That is predicated on the guys at the 3-point line making a good percentage from the new distance.
Probably not on Garza, not sure how Nunges game has developed.
My comment was directed more at Garza having more room to operate down low with the extended 3 point line.
Here's a curious statistic. Alford had the same number of signed scholly recruits play 8 consecutive semesters, the routine career especially before liberalization of the transfer rules, as never played a single minute of ball at Iowa.
Throw in the transfers, arrests, suspensions and academic casualties creating only partial careers at Iowa and you kind of see where the lemming began running for the cliff...Lick is where the lemmings met the cliff and jumped.
Seven consecutive years of mostly recruiting failures. Every now and again Iowa fans should be grateful for what we have and not jealous of what we lack.
Throw in the transfers, arrests, suspensions and academic casualties creating only partial careers at Iowa and you kind of see where the lemming began running for the cliff...Lick is where the lemmings met the cliff and jumped.
Seven consecutive years of mostly recruiting failures. Every now and again Iowa fans should be grateful for what we have and not jealous of what we lack.
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I'm a bulldog with a bone on this recruiting thing. Sitting around tonight-looked back over recruiting between 2004 and 2010. Wow, far worse than I thought--forgot some guys like Nate Skinner, Jamie Vanderbeken, Alex Thompson (other than the hard core criminals tied with Glen Worley as the least likable Hawk ever), Carlton Reed and Josh Crawford.
At least the trauma of the Lick years left a recollection of his recruits; not a particularly joyous set of recollections to be sure
If you give Lick credit for the 2010-2011 freshmen, the roster F McC inherited:
Matt Gatens
Cully Payne-transferred
T. J. Sayre
Cody Cox
Andrew Brommer
Eric May-injured
Devon Archie
Jarryd Cole-career almost destroyed by injuries (one of the most likable high character kids, the diametric opposite of Glen Worley and Alex Thompson). Nonetheless, a very diminished player by senior year.
Incoming freshmen from Lick years
Zach McCabe
RDM
Fran freshmen
Mel Basabe
Darius Stokes
Fran JUCO
Bryce Cartwright.
Other than Matt Gatens, and Eric May if healthy and maybe JC, none of the other returning players would even get playing time on the current roster. We would be debating red shirts for Zach, Mel and maybe even RDM if they were freshmen on the current roster.
At least the trauma of the Lick years left a recollection of his recruits; not a particularly joyous set of recollections to be sure
If you give Lick credit for the 2010-2011 freshmen, the roster F McC inherited:
Matt Gatens
Cully Payne-transferred
T. J. Sayre
Cody Cox
Andrew Brommer
Eric May-injured
Devon Archie
Jarryd Cole-career almost destroyed by injuries (one of the most likable high character kids, the diametric opposite of Glen Worley and Alex Thompson). Nonetheless, a very diminished player by senior year.
Incoming freshmen from Lick years
Zach McCabe
RDM
Fran freshmen
Mel Basabe
Darius Stokes
Fran JUCO
Bryce Cartwright.
Other than Matt Gatens, and Eric May if healthy and maybe JC, none of the other returning players would even get playing time on the current roster. We would be debating red shirts for Zach, Mel and maybe even RDM if they were freshmen on the current roster.
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Imagine what Fran could have done with Jake Kelly, if tragedy hadn't struck and he'd stayed at Iowa. That kid was one of the few bright spots of the Lick era.
Interesting to note that, according to the recruiting sites, Fran landed 6 of the top 10 Iowa recruits since 2000: Woodbury, Wieskamp, Cook, P-Mac, Gesell and Garza. I know there's this myth that Fran can't get good players, but he's been way more successful at recruiting than some fans give him credit for.
Now that I think about it, Jake Kelly might be a good comp for CJ Fredrick. CJ's a bit shorter, but he's got a similar dribble-drive game and a good outside shot. Hmmm...
From clips of CJ's senior year, he can get up, too. Maybe not as well as Kelly could, but he pulls off a lot of the same moves. Below is a highlight clip of Fredrick from the KY state tournament, and one of Kelly against Penn State in 2008. I see a lot of similarities in the way they play.
CJF:
Kelly:
Jake Kelly was 6'6" with long arms, so he had a substantial reach over what CJ has. CJ reminds me a lot of Kirk Heinrich, looks, build and game. I hope he has the talent, too
CJ and Jake kind of look alike. Given the current roster composition CJ will start for 3 or 4 seasons if he's as good as Jake. That will not be a recruiting miss.
Thanks for the video comparison. Good stuff. Think of how different Iowa BBall history would be if those three guys all stayed at Iowa?
There's a play where CJ scores while getting knocked down from a solid hit. Wonder if that play was in his mind when he thought of taking an open floor charge from TC? "yeah, I can take a hit...."
Thanks for the video comparison. Good stuff. Think of how different Iowa BBall history would be if those three guys all stayed at Iowa?
There's a play where CJ scores while getting knocked down from a solid hit. Wonder if that play was in his mind when he thought of taking an open floor charge from TC? "yeah, I can take a hit...."
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