Early look at the 2020 hoops recruiting targets
Five star point guard Jalen Suggs is one of Iowa's top targets in the Class of 2020.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
The past two weekends have been very busy for Fran McCaffery and his staff.
They have been on the road for the April evaluation period, getting a look at some of their top recruiting targets and identifying others who they are now becoming actively involved with moving forward.
Right now, Iowa is somewhat limited in their targets in the Class of 2019 and most of the prospects, including point guard D.J. Carton, are well identified. Iowa has one commitment in the 2019 class in four star Patrick McCaffery and they currently have room for one more prospect.
However, that could change depending on what happens with Tyler Cook and Isaiah Moss this spring. Both Iowa players have declared for the NBA Draft and have not signed with an agent, thus retaining the right to return to the Hawkeyes for the 2018-19 season. They have until May 30th to announce their decision to return to Iowa.
Moss has said he plans to come back to play for the Hawkeyes unless he receives a guarantee from an NBA team, which is unlikely. Cook hasn’t said much since announcing his decision to enter the NBA Draft. The picture for most prospects as far as where they stand with the NBA will become clearer in the next week or so when invites to the NBA Combine are officially released. If a prospect isn’t among the 60 players invited, basically the league is saying to prospects that it’s unlikely that they will be drafted.
From a recruiting perspective, the 2020 is going to be a big one in terms of numbers, with or without Moss and Cook being part of the list of players leaving the program. With both players included, Iowa’s 2020 recruiting class would include six open scholarships and that’s a big class given that programs have 13 scholarships to give out.
With that in mind, McCaffery and his staff have put a strong focus on the 2020 recruiting class and extended several new offers this spring to go along with a couple of existing high level targets.
As far as positions, when you have the potential to use six scholarships in any one recruiting class, it’s fair to say that there will be a need at just about every position. One focus will certainly be on size with Cordell Pemsl, Ryan Kriener, and possibly Cook graduating. Also factoring into that thinking will be the idea that Luka Garza and Jack Nunge will be leaving the program the following year.
So, who are the top targets for the Hawkeyes?
There are two well-known targets who also happen to be five star prospects in Jalen Suggs and Xavier Foster.
Suggs is the #6 overall prospect in Rivals.com’s 2020 recruiting rankings and the talented point guard is a potential program changer for Iowa or any other school that lands him. In addition to Iowa, the 6-foot-3 Minnesota native holds offer from the Gophers, Iowa State, Creighton, Baylor, Marquette, Wake Forest, UCLA, and Kansas. I would expect that nearly every blue blood program to join the Jayhawks in the race to land Suggs.
Iowa assistant coach Andrew Francis has built a strong relationship with Suggs and his family, so the Hawkeyes could remain the race to land him, but it’s going to be an uphill climb. One other note on Suggs, he’s also a high level quarterback prospect and Kirk Ferentz has already offer him a scholarship.
The other well-known target is in-state big man Xavier Foster. The 6-10 Oskaloosa, IA native picked up an Iowa offer in his freshman year. Iowa State also offered early and since then they have been joined by Illinois, Creighton, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Baylor.
Foster, who is the 20th ranked prospect in his class, is a skilled big man with the ability to step out and shoot the three and he is also a shot blocker in the middle of the defense. Kansas has shown strong interest and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Jayhawks extend an offer sometime this summer. Other blue blood programs are expected to get involved as his recruitment continues to develop.
Iowa has built a strong relationship with Foster and he has been to Iowa City several times. Expect the Hawkeyes to be in the race until the very end, but they will have quite a battle to keep Foster home for his college career.
In the frontcourt, Iowa has offered a pair of four star power forwards in Jarami Sibley and Isaiah Jackson. Sibley is out of Milwaukee and ranked by Rivals.com as the 99th best prospect in the 2020 class. In addition to Iowa, he currently holds offer from Kansas State, UNLV, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Green Bay. Jackson had a strong April evaluation period and is ranked as the 25th best prospect by Rivals.com. The Michigan native has picked up offers from Iowa, Florida State, Marquette, USC, Creighton, Mississippi State, and Pittsburgh. It’s expected that Michigan and Michigan State will be involved at some point as well.
The Hawkeyes have four offers out at the small forward position and again, it’s filled with high level prospects. Leading that group is five star forward Jalen Johnson from Wisconsin. The 6-6 forward and AAU teammate of Sibley, already has nine scholarship offers and Duke, UNC, and Kansas are showing interest.
Three new offers to four star prospects have been extended this spring. Those prospects are Dain Dainja from Minnesota, Andre Jackson from New York, and Cam’Ron Fletcher from Missouri. Dainja had a great April on the AAU circuit and this past week emerged with an offer from his home state Gophers, where his father played basketball. Jackson, who is ranked by Rivals.com as the 35th best prospect in his class, holds an early offer from nearby Syracuse. Fletcher is emerging as one of the wing forwards in the Midwest, has early offers from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas State, and Illinois.
At the shooting guard position, Iowa is again aiming high with a pair of offers to four star prospects Bryce Thompson and Caleb Love. Thompson is from Oklahoma and is ranked by Rivals.com as the 45th best prospect in the class. He has visited Iowa already and in addition to his in-state schools being in hot pursuit, he was offered by Kansas last week. Love is from Missouri and ranked 83rd by Rivals.com. He holds early offers from Kansas State, Missouri, and Xavier.
Finally, at point guard, in addition to the offer to Suggs, Iowa has two other offers out and both were extended early on in the process. Those offers are to Ethan Morton from Pennsylvania and Jalen Terry from Michigan. Morton is ranked by Rivals.com as the 47th best prospect in his class and has offers from Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Terry is ranked by Rivals.com as the 46th best prospect in 2020 and has offers from Tulsa, Detroit, and Cleveland State, with interest from Michigan.
There are a pair of in-state prospects who haven’t been offered that are on Iowa’s radar. One is 6-foot-9 forward Evan Brauns. He recently transferred from Iowa City Regina to Iowa City West, so Fran McCaffery will get plenty of opportunities to watch him next season. Brauns has early offer from Drake and UNI.
The other prospect to watch is point guard Bowen Born from Norwalk, IA. He’s a 5-11 guard and the son of Mike Born, who played at Iowa State in the late 80’s. The younger Born has early interest from Iowa and Iowa State and had a strong April on the AAU circuit.
Five star point guard Jalen Suggs is one of Iowa's top targets in the Class of 2020.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
The past two weekends have been very busy for Fran McCaffery and his staff.
They have been on the road for the April evaluation period, getting a look at some of their top recruiting targets and identifying others who they are now becoming actively involved with moving forward.
Right now, Iowa is somewhat limited in their targets in the Class of 2019 and most of the prospects, including point guard D.J. Carton, are well identified. Iowa has one commitment in the 2019 class in four star Patrick McCaffery and they currently have room for one more prospect.
However, that could change depending on what happens with Tyler Cook and Isaiah Moss this spring. Both Iowa players have declared for the NBA Draft and have not signed with an agent, thus retaining the right to return to the Hawkeyes for the 2018-19 season. They have until May 30th to announce their decision to return to Iowa.
Moss has said he plans to come back to play for the Hawkeyes unless he receives a guarantee from an NBA team, which is unlikely. Cook hasn’t said much since announcing his decision to enter the NBA Draft. The picture for most prospects as far as where they stand with the NBA will become clearer in the next week or so when invites to the NBA Combine are officially released. If a prospect isn’t among the 60 players invited, basically the league is saying to prospects that it’s unlikely that they will be drafted.
From a recruiting perspective, the 2020 is going to be a big one in terms of numbers, with or without Moss and Cook being part of the list of players leaving the program. With both players included, Iowa’s 2020 recruiting class would include six open scholarships and that’s a big class given that programs have 13 scholarships to give out.
With that in mind, McCaffery and his staff have put a strong focus on the 2020 recruiting class and extended several new offers this spring to go along with a couple of existing high level targets.
As far as positions, when you have the potential to use six scholarships in any one recruiting class, it’s fair to say that there will be a need at just about every position. One focus will certainly be on size with Cordell Pemsl, Ryan Kriener, and possibly Cook graduating. Also factoring into that thinking will be the idea that Luka Garza and Jack Nunge will be leaving the program the following year.
So, who are the top targets for the Hawkeyes?
There are two well-known targets who also happen to be five star prospects in Jalen Suggs and Xavier Foster.
Suggs is the #6 overall prospect in Rivals.com’s 2020 recruiting rankings and the talented point guard is a potential program changer for Iowa or any other school that lands him. In addition to Iowa, the 6-foot-3 Minnesota native holds offer from the Gophers, Iowa State, Creighton, Baylor, Marquette, Wake Forest, UCLA, and Kansas. I would expect that nearly every blue blood program to join the Jayhawks in the race to land Suggs.
Iowa assistant coach Andrew Francis has built a strong relationship with Suggs and his family, so the Hawkeyes could remain the race to land him, but it’s going to be an uphill climb. One other note on Suggs, he’s also a high level quarterback prospect and Kirk Ferentz has already offer him a scholarship.
The other well-known target is in-state big man Xavier Foster. The 6-10 Oskaloosa, IA native picked up an Iowa offer in his freshman year. Iowa State also offered early and since then they have been joined by Illinois, Creighton, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Baylor.
Foster, who is the 20th ranked prospect in his class, is a skilled big man with the ability to step out and shoot the three and he is also a shot blocker in the middle of the defense. Kansas has shown strong interest and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Jayhawks extend an offer sometime this summer. Other blue blood programs are expected to get involved as his recruitment continues to develop.
Iowa has built a strong relationship with Foster and he has been to Iowa City several times. Expect the Hawkeyes to be in the race until the very end, but they will have quite a battle to keep Foster home for his college career.
In the frontcourt, Iowa has offered a pair of four star power forwards in Jarami Sibley and Isaiah Jackson. Sibley is out of Milwaukee and ranked by Rivals.com as the 99th best prospect in the 2020 class. In addition to Iowa, he currently holds offer from Kansas State, UNLV, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Green Bay. Jackson had a strong April evaluation period and is ranked as the 25th best prospect by Rivals.com. The Michigan native has picked up offers from Iowa, Florida State, Marquette, USC, Creighton, Mississippi State, and Pittsburgh. It’s expected that Michigan and Michigan State will be involved at some point as well.
The Hawkeyes have four offers out at the small forward position and again, it’s filled with high level prospects. Leading that group is five star forward Jalen Johnson from Wisconsin. The 6-6 forward and AAU teammate of Sibley, already has nine scholarship offers and Duke, UNC, and Kansas are showing interest.
Three new offers to four star prospects have been extended this spring. Those prospects are Dain Dainja from Minnesota, Andre Jackson from New York, and Cam’Ron Fletcher from Missouri. Dainja had a great April on the AAU circuit and this past week emerged with an offer from his home state Gophers, where his father played basketball. Jackson, who is ranked by Rivals.com as the 35th best prospect in his class, holds an early offer from nearby Syracuse. Fletcher is emerging as one of the wing forwards in the Midwest, has early offers from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas State, and Illinois.
At the shooting guard position, Iowa is again aiming high with a pair of offers to four star prospects Bryce Thompson and Caleb Love. Thompson is from Oklahoma and is ranked by Rivals.com as the 45th best prospect in the class. He has visited Iowa already and in addition to his in-state schools being in hot pursuit, he was offered by Kansas last week. Love is from Missouri and ranked 83rd by Rivals.com. He holds early offers from Kansas State, Missouri, and Xavier.
Finally, at point guard, in addition to the offer to Suggs, Iowa has two other offers out and both were extended early on in the process. Those offers are to Ethan Morton from Pennsylvania and Jalen Terry from Michigan. Morton is ranked by Rivals.com as the 47th best prospect in his class and has offers from Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Terry is ranked by Rivals.com as the 46th best prospect in 2020 and has offers from Tulsa, Detroit, and Cleveland State, with interest from Michigan.
There are a pair of in-state prospects who haven’t been offered that are on Iowa’s radar. One is 6-foot-9 forward Evan Brauns. He recently transferred from Iowa City Regina to Iowa City West, so Fran McCaffery will get plenty of opportunities to watch him next season. Brauns has early offer from Drake and UNI.
The other prospect to watch is point guard Bowen Born from Norwalk, IA. He’s a 5-11 guard and the son of Mike Born, who played at Iowa State in the late 80’s. The younger Born has early interest from Iowa and Iowa State and had a strong April on the AAU circuit.
