If she wants, she could very likely make more money with NIL than with the WNBA. We aren't talking about NBA salaries here.
I hope Caitlin transfers her last year
- Thread starter General Tso
- Start date
She’d be in the 2023 Draft if she left early, so not sure where she’d be missing an entire year of live action.
What’s funny now is that there was a time in the late ‘00s when I wondered if we might need to part ways with Bluder. Felt like they’d been underachieving, kept having players get hurt to the point where I wondered if they were doing something wrong medically that was systemic.
boy am I glad to have been proven wrong there. Crazy to think she now is second only to Kirk in longevity at Iowa.
Coach Bluder was a candidate to replace Coach Stringer. It went to Angie Lee, then the assistant coach. I wonder what would have happened if Coach Bluder got the job instead. Maybe the players from that fab class would all transfer out. Who knows.
We had two top 100 girls come this year, and have 3 top 90 girls coming in next year. So....yes it appears it does.
Wow. What a recruiting class. Now we only hear about how hard it is to recruit to Iowa.
Did you ever consider she wanted to stay close to home?
Maybe winning a NC isn’t that important to her? Guessing she Knew her chances were much less staying at Iowa.
She’s a high 1st round pick in the pros either way….
I would not shed a tear if Bluder retired. She's a good coach but kind of like Tom Davis. The program has yet to really reach ELITE status. A few BTT titles and an Elite E appearance.
However, if she ever figures out how to coach rebounding/defense she could take Iowa to Elite status. She is great in that she is recruiting well recently and the players want to play for her. But it seems every team has the same issues year after year.
Careful what you wish for. Not sure Iowa has topped Tom Davis as coach since and Lisa will be tough to replace as well
will be interesting to see if Caitlin has impact on recruiting in23 and beyond
Well we also had plenty of chances to capitalize on Megan leading us to the elite 8 in recruiting and didn’t do it there. I’m talking athletes. We need 2 athletic wings that can guard and score. We have an awful lot to sell. Carver is actually a better setting for the women than the men. Almost 10K on a Monday night. Multiple games on ESPN. Besides UConn not many teams can say that. A winning tradition. And the chance to play with the number 1 player in the country. Until I see 1 girl in an Iowa uniform that looks like the top 7 girls from Maryland I’ll believe our recruiting has improved.
So…Caitlyn Clark doesn’t count?
Seriously, as has been pointed out, recruiting has picked up the past couple seasons; and the odds of landing Clark in the first place without Gustafson doing what she did first.
Last night was a roughy night, no doubt. They’re also better than how they looked last night. They’ve also been hit by injuries, and are still not 100%. I get what you’re saying, but you’re not being fair to what Bluders done there without considering she’s coaching a squad while missing key players.
Iowa is terrible at those 3 things because they have little size other than Monica who can’t defend or rebound either, and very little athleticism. It’s just the type of players that are recruited- maybe the class coming in will help to get some athleticism on the wings/inside, but really need help at guard for Caitlin
Well, you know what they say. You're never as good as your best night and you're never as bad as your worst night. With missing key players, we just have to adapt. There are numerous teams without key players right now.
The 2 that came in this year are nice players but added little athleticism. Hope next year’s are different. It’s also pretty clear that Top 100 in WBB is not at all comparable to Top 100 in MBB athletically
Yes. Pretty much every WBB is in agreement that Bluder needs to go after a backup PG in the portal, preferrably one with shooting ability.
Taylor McCabe will also help significantly at guard as she can shoot and create for herself. She is a complete player.
Syd an Addie have already shown flashes. AJ seems to be more of a banger. (We had three recruits come in plus Kylie as a transfer). I think they are more athletic than they get credit for.
Next year's class oozes athleticism. All three are multi-tiered scorers and Hanna/Jada are also effective post players. More importantly Hanna/Jada bring post defense and McCabe can create for herself.
This is so true. While offer lists can be hard to find in WBB, they tend to tell a better story than top 100 lists in terms of athleticism. If OSU, Maryland, Louisville offer a midwest player, perhaps with the exception of a post, the chances are quite high that the player would be an athletic upgrade for Iowa.
Correct me if I’m wrong but it’s also been a while since all of our recruits are in the top 100
Yes. We usually get one maybe two top 100 recruits. Most of the recruits we've gotten previously we're late bloomers or top 250 level. We've had some good classes as a whole but the incoming class for 2022 is the highest rated class we've ever had.
Caitlin Cark, Person who the topic is about before it ran down a rabbit trail.
Is leaving early for the WNBA really a thing in womens basketball? Honest question as I'm not sure. I don't know what the WNBA is paying these days but I would think getting that college degree for free is worth a lot.
Why would you want the literal best player in the country to transfer?
You can leave early if you turn 22 in the calendar year of the draft. So for the players in Caitlin's class, those born June-December 2001 would be eligible to enter the 2023 draft (after their junior year) because they will turn 22 that year. Caitlin was born in January 2002, so she won't be draft eligible until 2024, which is after her senior year. So no, Caitlin cannot "leave early." Paige Bueckers's birthday is October 20, 2001, so she could leave after her junior year if she wants.
An interesting case in that class is Stanford's talented center Cameron Brink. She was born on December 31, 2001, so she is eligible to declare for the draft in 2023, after her junior season, if she wishes. Had she been born just a few hours later on January 1, 2022, she would have to wait until after her senior year just like Caitlin.
A lot of times you will see a player leave early if the draft that year is particularly weak, because that means they might have a better chance getting drafted high and making a roster. This is what Charli Collier, last year's #1 pick, did. You get a higher salary if you are drafted in the lottery, so had she remained in college, she'd be leaving potential $$ on the table. Other times you might see a player leave early if a bunch of talented players in the class above them graduate that year. Maybe the team made a final four run and will be in rebuilding mode the following year, so the junior opts out and decides to go pro. This is what Jewell Loyd did in 2015 after helping lead Notre Dame to the national title game that season. Loyd became the #1 WNBA draft pick that year.
Last edited:
Thanks for the info, I don't follow womens basketball outside of the Hawkeyes and I can't remember a player leaving early here.
I highly doubt Caitlin transfers, had winning a NC been a top priority for her she probably wouldn't have came to Iowa in the first place. Hopefully Bluder can get a couple more strong recruiting classes to surround her with enough talent to make a legitimate run.
I have Sahara Williams and Audi Crooks on my wishlist for 2023. It would also be nice if we can get Lisa Thompson but I'm not sure what the interest levels there are.
I fail to understand why they seem to insist on passing it into the post, Clearly it was Maryland’s game plan to not let that happen. so Bluder needs to adjust and have an alternate plan.
They were trying. Iowa was uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball all game. It simply got away from them and they never settled into the game.
Closest player to Iowa was from Chicago. Recruits from both coasts and oh, a national player of the year. What could have been if she'd stayed.
What I don't understand is why she hasn't had the same success at Rutgers as she did at Iowa.
I think the rise of UCONN greatly impacted what she was able to accomplish at Rutgers. Still successful, but not what she was heading towards at Iowa.
Clark is 2nd in the nation in turnovers. It’s not uncharacteristic for her to have a high # of them.
It’s something she has to work on for sure, but she averages 5, and had twice that vs Maryland.
Having an elite coach helps. When Iowa hired Stringer, she was pretty fresh off taking Cheyney to the NCAA championship game. She came in with a big rep and recruited well and built Iowa into a top level program, which carried over into the Angie Lee years. There was some fall back after that and Bluder has been making progress. I have to think having Megan Gustafson and now Caitlin Clark in a short window of time makes it clear that you can be an elite national player and get a lot of attention at Iowa. Regardless of whether Clark wins NPOY this year, she’s pretty clearly in the top 3-4 players in terms of name recognition in the sport and she gets Iowa on TV all the time.
Some places are harder to recruit to. Look at Nebraska football. They were stuffed with elite talent for years because they had an elite head coach in Tom Osborne. Since he’s been gone, the draw has fallen to the point where they are now.
They were intimidated because it was determined very early the opponent was going to be allowed to beat on them and neither Iowa BB team can win many games when they can be bullied at will by the defense.
She has the ball in her hands for probably 85 % of the time so turnovers are going to happen.
I think it would be a shame if you didn't transfer to some other school so you can spew your crap there. What a stupid thing to come on here and say. What a total tool.
Similar threads
