Ive watched quite a few of her HS games. In BG's system, she sits on the block with minimal movement. On D she plugs up the lane without much movement. Great hands, Great feet. I just don't see her being successful on a team that gets up and down the floor. Tough to tell since she has been going against 1A competition in HS. Ive seen her listed at 6'2 and 6'3. Either way, she will be going against girls who are as tall or taller and much more athletic mobility wise. By all accounts she seems like a great kid. Its been fun watching her and Joyce the last few years. I hope she proves me wrong.
Iowa Women's Basketball Recruiting Offer/Commitment List
- Thread starter KyleHuesmann
- Start date
If Lisa wanted her, fine, but I'm certainly not upset about her choice.
This is how I see it as well. Most of you all are saying it wasn't a huge loss and she doesn't fit our system --- so why did we recruit her so hard then?
Can't say I'm hugely surprised though. As I posted a while back, between Sharon, AJ, Addy (and also Hannah and Jada if we're talking the 4 -- which, don't @ me, I know Crooks is a 5), Iowa has a lot of front court competition for the next few years. So if I'm a post player that wants playing time, I'd definitely factor that in.
What Iowa needs more than anything from the 2023 and 2024 class is guards. Losing out on Sahara Williams to Oklahoma or ISU would be more of a setback. With Oklahoma likely officially in the SEC by the 23-24 season, I worry that will be an additional selling point for Jennie B to use.
I'm not really in the know when it comes to WBB recruiting in general, so I'll caveat everything I say after this with that. I watched a video on Youtube of Crooks going up against a UConn recruit and while a UConn recruit is likely at a different level than what we see in the Big Ten, I think the video is a good indicator of Crooks's abilities and limitations at the next level.
Audi was able to get buckets on offense when she got it down deep in the post, gobbled up rebounds that came within her reach since she grabbed them up high, and was able to get blocks against smaller players that dared to go against her at the rim. But the UConn recruit tore her up in pretty much every other way. Audi had no ability to keep up with her on the move or defend her when she stepped out of the paint for jump shots. It looked like a case of Audi scoring a lot of points, but giving up even more points on the other end.. There's also a play starting at about 1:41 in the video that really shows her athletic limitations. She was able to pull down boards because she was the tallest one in the area, but because of traffic couldn't move anywhere when trying to put the ball in the hoop. At that point she had to rely on jumping from a stand still to get lift on her shot and that just isn't in her ability set, so she ended up badly shorting her first shot and even worse on the put back for what should have been easy layups.
No ill will against her. I hope she does well in college, except for when she plays Iowa. But she needs to drop some weight and build some athleticism to have a shot at being elite at the next level. Even though the WBB game is below the rim, the players still have to be athletes in terms of running, jumping, and agility.
Bluder had to "recruit" Crooks whether she really wanted her or not due to optics in the State. Audi is a really nice player but she has a LOT of work to do to get her body ready to go up and down in a major college basketball game. Like a previous poster said, she guarded NOBODY in high school and they didn't even have her line up on the FT line when one of her teammates was shooting so she could go back on defense and rest. I hope she turns out to be a major force and dominates except for when they play the Hawks but I don't worry about Bluder and staff as they have been able to continually find really good bigs who can run rim to rim.
Load of bullshit here.
So Bluder was just putting on a public show for "optics", just going through the motions of recruiting, all the while secretly hoping she would not commit to the Hawkeyes.
You can't make this shit up. Bluder doesn't tender full scholarship offers for "optics".
Crooks will likely be a very good player in time. Perhaps Bluder was counting on being able redshirt her a year to work on strength and conditioning with all the depth Iowa has at the 5 going into next season.
This was part of my thinking too. O'Grady would have 2 seasons of overlap with Crooks. Goodman could have up to 3. We don't know what Crooks will look like at the college level, but we certainly think O'Grady and Goodman can be starters at minimum. Crooks seemed like more of a luxury pickup than a need.This is how I see it as well. Most of you all are saying it wasn't a huge loss and she doesn't fit our system --- so why did we recruit her so hard then?
Can't say I'm hugely surprised though. As I posted a while back, between Sharon, AJ, Addy (and also Hannah and Jada if we're talking the 4 -- which, don't @ me, I know Crooks is a 5), Iowa has a lot of front court competition for the next few years. So if I'm a post player that wants playing time, I'd definitely factor that in.
What Iowa needs more than anything from the 2023 and 2024 class is guards. Losing out on Sahara Williams to Oklahoma or ISU would be more of a setback. With Oklahoma likely officially in the SEC by the 23-24 season, I worry that will be an additional selling point for Jennie B to use.
With Crooks going to Iowa State and Williams likely going to Oklahoma, who in the world are we even going to land for 2023, if any at all?
Very intriguing player but I wonder if she has ever faced a player as tall as she is. Like you said she has great hands but she won't be the tallest and strongest player at the next level. Her game will have to change. I think she will have success in College but I would be surprised if it comes right away.
Interesting that Herky T's YouTube video is used for some of Crooks' highlight reels, but heavily edited. Almost every one of her baskets were scored when #24 was out of the game or at least not guarding her. You could see she was getting a bit demoralized on defense by all the points she was giving up. Sounds like a great kid...hope she develops well, she'd be the 4th big we have with similar limitations.
As of now (and before any transfers or other commits) the 2024-2025 roster only has 10 (or even fewer) players:
Seniors: Affolter, O'Grady, Ediger, Feuerbach (if she takes the Covid year)
Juniors: Stuelke, McCabe, Gyamfi, Goodman (if she takes the Covid year plus a medical redshirt last year), Wetering (if she takes the Covid year plus a medical redshirt last year)
Sophomores: None
Freshman: Levin
Between the 2023 and 2024 classes, I would expect another 3-4 commits unless the coaches want to start getting more involved in the portal. As Kyle indicated, there aren't a lot of known targets remaining in 2023.
Seniors: Affolter, O'Grady, Ediger, Feuerbach (if she takes the Covid year)
Juniors: Stuelke, McCabe, Gyamfi, Goodman (if she takes the Covid year plus a medical redshirt last year), Wetering (if she takes the Covid year plus a medical redshirt last year)
Sophomores: None
Freshman: Levin
Between the 2023 and 2024 classes, I would expect another 3-4 commits unless the coaches want to start getting more involved in the portal. As Kyle indicated, there aren't a lot of known targets remaining in 2023.
I think Johnson-Etienne is the name to watch going forward. Obviously, Sahara Williams is the other, but I think you can get away with 1-2 in the 2023 class and then potentially have 3-4 in 2024. If you hit those years and you need a player, the transfer portal is available.
Solon high school, committed as a freshman, I believe. I'd say 5'10"ish. Not terribly quick from what I've seen of her running track.
Not a pg, imo.
She runs the point in hs, and on All Iowa Attack's top team this year.
She won't be a bulk shooter like CC, but she'll get us into the offense.
In the meantime, I looked her up - she just slipped my mind - not unusual anymore. lol
I’ve went to watch her a couple of times. Passes the ball well. When she gets going she can shoot it well and she can create shots all over the floor.
Yeah, I'm no expert. Just an eyeball opinion. She's gonna be on the short side by B1G standards.
Smh transfer portal going to strike at the high school level?
Iowa Women's Basketball Recruiting - Page 2 of 4 - WBB Blog
Recruiting summary for Iowa women's basketball, including a scholarship chart (projecting open spots for upcoming classes), commitments, and targets
wbbblog.com
Also offers out to Lisa Thompson
Lisa Thompson's High School Basketball Stats
Check out Lisa Thompson's high school sports stats, including updates while playing basketball at Joliet West High School (IL).
www.maxpreps.com
and Jasmine Brown
Jasmine Brown's High School Career Home
Check out Jasmine Brown's high school sports timeline including updates while playing basketball at Joliet Catholic High School (IL).
www.maxpreps.com
Iowa is in the unfortunate position of having a coach who wants to stay until a generational talent graduates. My sense is that recruits know that and opposing coaches seize on it.
She very well could be. She visited Iowa back in September for the Kent State football game. Doesn’t have an offer yet.
Bluder turns 61 on Saturday. No health issues that are known. She could stay longer if she wanted to. I don't think Bluder is the problem. The problem may be more opportunity for playing time and Iowa not really having long term success beyond the conference.
Keep in mind that Gabbie/McKenna/Kate can all come back next year so there's only 2 scholarships available at the moment until one or all of those players says otherwise. (1 open and Monika will exhaust her eligibility)
The focus has been on '24 because we will have limited scholarships and you have to understand you're recruiting players who aren't being counted on to start immediately.
I’d be pretty surprised if Bluder retires in just two years. If that’s what you’re implying.
Not sure we need another big, unless either Sharon/Addy decide to transfer. We already have 3 on roster going into '23 Addy with 2 years, Sharon with 2 (with the option for COVID year) and Jada with 3.
WE NEED TO BE RECRUTING GUARDS!!
