Iowa lands former Villanova PG Lucy Olsen

[SoonerBeAHawk]

Pretty good write up here by Chad L about the recruitment of Lucy and why she chose Iowa.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...a-bluder-replacing-caitlin-clark/73364708007/

 

[GunnerHawk]

Transfer portal still sucks, even when it works in Iowa's favor. Villanova helped make Lucy what she is today and she screwed them (and her Villanova teammates) over. The overall college sports product is far worse off with the current transfer rules.

Maybe Lucy wants to play in the big dance and feels she has a better chance with Iowa. Iowa does have some solid players returning and a top 10 class coming in. FWIW, Lucy becoming a Hawk doesn't guarantee a BIG title or top 16 finish (gives the team a home court for first two rounds of the tourney). It gives us a better chance but with USC, UCLA and Oregon joining, the schedule gets tougher.

The portal giveth and the portal taketh away. Hope Lucy is the piece of our 24-25 puzzle along with Hannah, Syd, Kylie and Addie to keep us towards the top of the league.

Go Hawks

I was remiss in not having Taylor as a solid returning piece in the puzzle.

 

[QChawks]

I'm really curious how much she received in NIL money, it wouldn't surprise me if CC is now a contributor too

 

[cmhawks99]

Way to make a whole bunch of shit up in your first paragraph, well done.
My whole premise has been
Taylor McCabes offense/3pt shooting+defense > kylie feurbachs offense+defense
And that’s because kylies offensive game is nearly nonexistent while taylor is actually a competent defender.
Gabby was a huge reason for our push to the championship game because she was actually making her 3’s. You think if she was out there missing shots like she did most of the regular season she would’ve been an asset strictly because of her D? I do not. And I think that’s what we get from kylie without improvement from her offensive game.

Ok…. but you’re in the minority

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

I don’t really get the knock on mccabes D. She looked pretty dang solid on D at the end of the year. And her offense far outweighs feuerbachs. She’s also pretty darn athletic herself

Me either, I think she's every bit as good on defense as Feuerbach and a far better option on the offensive end. Kylie at times would pass up open shots, Taylor rarely would pass those up. Kiley also had several head scratching moments when she would drive baseline or into a crowd in the lane and then pick up her dribble often resulting in a turnover or a bad forced shot.

 

[GOHOX69]

I'm really curious how much she received in NIL money, it wouldn't surprise me if CC is now a contributor too

Whatever she got is more justifiable than out of control Perkins wanted. End of story.

 

[HawksRule73]

As a MBB 'first' fan, I am so fugging jealous of how the WBB program has been going & trending for the past 2.5-3+ years.





(thanks Fran)

It's the difference between good coaching and bad coaching. When Bluder finally got her first difference maker in Gustafson, she made it to the Elite 8. Then, when she got her generational player, she made 2 CG appearances.

Then there's Fran, who got his first real difference maker in Garza and pissed it down his leg with a 2nd round exit. Not to mention also having Weiskamp and the Murrays and, again, pissed it down his leg. 4 legit NBA players and couldn't do a damn thing.

This is why the argument of "just give Fran time like we did Bluder" makes no sense. It's painfully obvious who the better coach is and it's not even close. Which is why it makes no sense to continue keeping him around. Upper division B1G finishes don't cut it when everyone and their brother knows a season comes down to what you do in the NCAAs. Fran has 30+ years of history that shows he doesn't know what the heck he's doing come tourney time.

 

[ddeanHawk]

Me either, I think she's every bit as good on defense as Feuerbach and a far better option on the offensive end. Katie at times would pass up open shots, Taylor rarely would pass those up. Katie also had several head scratching moments when she would drive baseline or into a crowd in the lane and then pick up her dribble often resulting in a turnover or a bad forced shot.

She likes going by Kylie not Katie 🤣

 

[MitchLL]

The key to next season, imo, is Hannah developing that 10-15' jumper.
Having to play the 5 this year delayed that part of her game.

As hard as she works, no reason to believe it won't happen.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I disagree. I think Gabbie's defense has been a major part of our success the last two years.

As for her offensive performance, Gabbie created space on the floor, just by being there. Teams had to respect her shooting because when she was on she was deadly. This is the only concern that I have wrt Kylie. If teams sag off Kylie and they don't respect her perimeter game, and she can't knock down threes to make them pay, then I think we will see more Taylor.

In a perfect world, Kylie will get more under control and Taylor will improve her ball handling and the game will slow down for both of them. Both of them are going to get a lot more minutes next year and I expect both to improve a lot between now and next march.

Personally, I think the absolute biggest thing that needs to happen between now and next year is Hannah needs to develop a consistent outside shot. I've been told she is making great strides in that department and expect we will see her become more of an outside threat next year. We need that if we're going to play her at the four which is where I think she belongs.

I think Gabbie and Kate's defense and court awareness are going to be very hard to replace. We know how great Caitlin is, but Gabbie and Kate often drew the other team's best scorers and kept them from going off.

 

[Jack Slice]

Ok…. but you’re in the minority

I'm not sure you can quantitively say Slime45s observations/opinions are in the minority. I happen to agree with some of those... and I love Kylie's athleticism and hustle by the way. I'd offer one other observation about the generally apples to oranges comparisons of Gabbie and Kylie and it speaks to Slim45s thoughts.

Gabbie, even when she was struggling with her three's, wasn't hurting us with turnovers on slashing drives. While I think she had better than average handles, she didn't often look to create her own shot.

Kylie, as noted by others, struggled creating her own shot as she would drive without a plan if she got closed off. This resulted in turnovers. If Kylie can improve on this front, whether off-season or more game minutes, then I'd change my mind and maybe put her in at the two or even spell Olsen at the one.

 

[the24fan]

Huh?

 

[MitchLL]

I'm not sure you can quantitively say Slime45s observations/opinions are in the minority. I happen to agree with some of those... and I love Kylie's athleticism and hustle by the way. I'd offer one other observation about the generally apples to oranges comparisons of Gabbie and Kylie and it speaks to Slim45s thoughts.

Gabbie, even when she was struggling with her three's, wasn't hurting us with turnovers on slashing drives. While I think she had better than average handles, she didn't often look to create her own shot.

Kylie, as noted by others, struggled creating her own shot as she would drive without a plan if she got closed off. This resulted in turnovers. If Kylie can improve on this front, whether off-season or more game minutes, then I'd change my mind and maybe put her in at the two or even spell Olsen at the one.

Yep, once she moved with the ball, bad things happened.

 

[General Tso]

It's the difference between good coaching and bad coaching. When Bluder finally got her first difference maker in Gustafson, she made it to the Elite 8. Then, when she got her generational player, she made 2 CG appearances.

Then there's Fran, who got his first real difference maker in Garza and pissed it down his leg with a 2nd round exit. Not to mention also having Weiskamp and the Murrays and, again, pissed it down his leg. 4 legit NBA players and couldn't do a damn thing.

This is why the argument of "just give Fran time like we did Bluder" makes no sense. It's painfully obvious who the better coach is and it's not even close. Which is why it makes no sense to continue keeping him around. Upper division B1G finishes don't cut it when everyone and their brother knows a season comes down to what you do in the NCAAs. Fran has 30+ years of history that shows he doesn't know what the heck he's doing come tourney time.

So much this. Bravo

 

[Slim45]

Ok…. but you’re in the minority

According to…?

 

[cmhawks99]

It's the difference between good coaching and bad coaching. When Bluder finally got her first difference maker in Gustafson, she made it to the Elite 8. Then, when she got her generational player, she made 2 CG appearances.

Then there's Fran, who got his first real difference maker in Garza and pissed it down his leg with a 2nd round exit. Not to mention also having Weiskamp and the Murrays and, again, pissed it down his leg. 4 legit NBA players and couldn't do a damn thing.

This is why the argument of "just give Fran time like we did Bluder" makes no sense. It's painfully obvious who the better coach is and it's not even close. Which is why it makes no sense to continue keeping him around. Upper division B1G finishes don't cut it when everyone and their brother knows a season comes down to what you do in the NCAAs. Fran has 30+ years of history that shows he doesn't know what the heck he's doing come tourney time.

Where were the painfully obvious folks several years ago, when they were complaining the women’s team had plateaued…🤷‍♂️

 

[SoonerBeAHawk]

I'm really curious how much she received in NIL money, it wouldn't surprise me if CC is now a contributor too

I am too.

And I'm wondering if CC was so inclined, could she just hold out a fistful of $$ and say, "GO GET ME OLSEN!" with the money contingent on that? Or would she just kinda have to donate it to the larger fund, with a wink perhaps, and hope that happens???

Total NIL illiterate here

 

[undersized_post]

Maybe Lucy wants to play in the big dance and feels she has a better chance with Iowa. Iowa does have some solid players returning and a top 10 class coming in. FWIW, Lucy becoming a Hawk doesn't guarantee a BIG title or top 16 finish (gives the team a home court for first two rounds of the tourney). It gives us a better chance but with USC, UCLA and Oregon joining, the schedule gets tougher.

The portal giveth and the portal taketh away. Hope Lucy is the piece of our 24-25 puzzle along with Hannah, Syd, Kylie and Addie to keep us towards the top of the league.

Go Hawks

Olsen made the Sweet 16 with Villanova in 2023. She was the second scoring option on that team behind forward Maddie Siegrist who graduated and became WNBA lottery pick after leading the NCAA in scoring that season (ahead of Caitlin!) Olsen did a remarkable job this season considering how much she had to up her usage rate in Siegrist's absence. I'm hoping she can get back closer to her sophomore year numbers in terms of usage rate and shooting percentages playing around the pieces we already have coming back. She mentioned having pro aspirations (probably overseas) and likely was concerned about playing on a middling team in a league without much visibility in her final season.

 

[khael-hawk]

Me either, I think she's every bit as good on defense as Feuerbach and a far better option on the offensive end. Katie at times would pass up open shots, Taylor rarely would pass those up. Katie also had several head scratching moments when she would drive baseline or into a crowd in the lane and then pick up her dribble often resulting in a turnover or a bad forced shot.

Who the hell is Katie?

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

She likes going by Kylie not Katie 🤣

A true senior moment for me, they seem to be happening more frequently unfortunately.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

Who the hell is Katie?

Okay, okay don’t need to pylon* now!























*intentional WOB

 

[desihawk]

Maybe 7'0 center Riley Mulvey will consider transitioning

I kid, I kid....

i support, riley wouldn’t even have to change her name. coming to think of it i don’t believe ncaa restricts the number of sports an athlete can play. riley could conceivably play for both teams and not cost bluder a scholly.

 

[AEG82]

Hell yes. Everything is going to be just fine. We ain't going anywhere for those other fanbase expecting us to just fade away.

 

[Franisdaman]

the competition will be tougher moving forward of course

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[khael-hawk]

A true senior moment for me, they seem to be happening more frequently unfortunately.

It's only gonna get worse.

Btw I disagree with you too - it was just easier to pie lawn you for getting her name wrong.

 

[Doodads and Hoohah]

the competition will be tougher moving forward of course

View embedded media

Even if you subtracted 10 from each of those for next year I would be happy.

 

[Franisdaman]

From last night:

 

[Bro D]

Olsen, Affolter and Stuelke will be an absolutely fantastic trio next year in terms of scoring. Affolter will take a kate martin-like step up in scoring and you have to think Stuelke will improve hers as well.

Looking forward to McCabe and Feuerbach lighting it up from the outside.

Just need someone else to step up down low and the women should win a lot of games

 

[Tenacious E]

Yeah, she has a habit of dribbling into jams. It's an issue. Hoping this part of her game improves over the summer.

That drove me crazy. She kind of freaked out with the ball in her hands in big games and it almost cost us a few games. She has good size and is quick, and shoots well enough. She just couldn't be trusted with the ball in her hands when guarded by a better athlete on the perimeter in crunch-time moments. I'm not sure that's fixable. Hope it is.

 

[obfuscating]

Great get by LIsa!

Stuelke and O grady should handle down low just fine.

 

[Franisdaman]

Great get by LIsa!

Stuelke and O grady should handle down low just fine.

Lisa had one scholarship opening and she knew who she wanted.

check this out:

 

[retrodent]

Lisa appears happy.

View embedded media

Lol.

 

[wondergrape]

Yeah she’s a good defender. Needs to bring something offensively though. When Gabby couldn’t hit a 3, regardless of how good her defense was, it wasn’t making up for her shooting woes.

Of course it was. We had freaking Caitlin Clark on our team....we didn't need Gabbie to hit jack.

She was a great fit for this team and helped us win a bunch of games.

 

[Franisdaman]

Lol.

AI is kinda scary

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[herkhatescy]

That drove me crazy. She kind of freaked out with the ball in her hands in big games and it almost cost us a few games. She has good size and is quick, and shoots well enough. She just couldn't be trusted with the ball in her hands when guarded by a better athlete on the perimeter in crunch-time moments. I'm not sure that's fixable. Hope it is.

Almost sounds like you're talking about Affholter. Especially in the Championship game.

 

[Tenacious E]

Almost sounds like you're talking about Affholter. Especially in the Championship game.

That is not how I view her game. She was pretty trustworthy with the ball in her hands, in my eyes.

 

[herkhatescy]

That is not how I view her game. She was pretty trustworthy with the ball in her hands, in my eyes.

Well did your eyes see how many times she tried to drive for a layup with 6'7" Cardosa and another girl that was 6'4" and had nowhere to go and ended up eating the basketball? She tried to hard to take the game into her own hands.