Kate Martin and Gabby Marshall have announced their return for next season…
- Thread starter cyberhawk
- Start date
Good for the Hawks. Has Clark made that commitment? Seems like this might help insure that she will be staying.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
There is one spot left for next year since Martin and Davis are returning. Warnock could theoretically come back but it seems unlikely at this point. People have said it’s bc she wants to go to dental school but I don’t rly think that’s the whole story — there are ways around that and taking an extra year to take additional (but beneficial) coursework is far from uncommon.
What I really think is happening is exactly what happened last year. Bluder last year let Tomi Taiwo (a significant role player) graduate in hopes of finding someone in the portal to address our need for depth at PG. It seems she is doing the same this year. I think she will look for a sharp shooting + scrappy 2 or a fast, athletic 4. Alternatively, she could seek an efficient 5 and play Stuelke at the 4.
A few weeks ago I would have said it would be crazy to let Warnock graduate but it makes sense to let her move on IMO. I think we can find a player with similar efficiency at the 3 but with more speed and better ball handling skills. Martin is also shooting as efficiently as Warnock now from the 3.
One thing to keep in mind however is that if someone else transfers out in the off-season, the opportunity for Warnock to return would still be there. This happened to a Michigan player last year. Senior Emily Kiser entered the transfer portal bc there were no roster spots available — 4 true seniors were graduating and 4 freshman were signed to take their spots. She went thru with senior day. It seemed no one could take a senior year. But then a reserve transfered out and a few weeks later Kiser announced she was returning.
I think this is unlikely to pan out the same with Warnock but with the portal, you never know. We have logjams at the 4 and 5 and if multiple people want more playing time, it’s not an impossible outcome.
Last edited by a moderator:
I like all your ideas. I would just add the SG has to be a great defender. Here is my prediction, assuming Kylie can fill that role:
PG: Clark/Davis
SG: Feuerbach/McCabe
SF: Martin/Affolter
PF: Stuelke/Gyamfi
C: Transfer/O'Grady
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Barring a rule change, Clark is not eligible for the WNBA draft until 2024, as currently you must be 22 in the year the draft takes place, and Clark's b-day is 1/22/02.
Hope that doesn’t impact Affolter or McCabe (I.e. transferring). They have some needed athleticism that needs to be on the court more IMO.
need to add Marshall as well. It is going to be interesting to see how Bluder handles this next year given they all return and/or are healthy. McCabe needs to be on the court at least 20 minutes a game if she continues to progress. IMO.
So we I posted about this a couple weeks ago - we are good keeping Martin for 1 year potentially losing Affolter, and keeping Marshall for 1 more year potentially losing McCabe? I don't get 1 of these for sure, maybe both. Also now, if everyone stays, lose the ability to get any transfer whatsoever.
I'm very interested in seeing if anyone transfers out and who shines through next season. It's great to have Kate and Gabbie back but we still lose our 2nd and 3rd best players in Monika and McKenna. McKenna is averaging 28.3 minutes per game and Monika is averaging 27.5 minutes per game so there are definitely some minutes to be given. How those minutes get spread out? We shall wait and see.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
If you check out my lengthy comment above, you’ll see I generally share these concerns. However, this new development warrants a couple of points:
1) It may be that Bluder does not anticipate any bench players being able to replicate what Marshall and Martin bring to the table at the 2 and 3 next season. You have to think this is at least partly true. Perhaps she doesn’t see McCabe developing on D or Affolter improving at the 3.
Also, perhaps she doesn’t want to bank on Feuerbach recovering quickly enough to become an impact player next year. It’s become more common than not for recovery to take closer to 18 months than 12, I’d say.
2) It’s also possible Bluder anticipates someone will transfer. My guesses would be Edigar and O’Grady are the biggest risks.
3) Both could be true. If #1 is true, Bluder may be okay with bringing back vets, while flat out risking reserves transferring (and maybe it makes sense for them, if they’re never going to be able to find their spot in the system).
With the portal, this isn’t as scary of a prospect. I can’t help but wonder if Bluder thinks that is the best path to compete for a one-seed again (as opposed to say, settling for a 4 or 5 seed with our current reserves).
Last edited by a moderator:
its pretty clear that they want to come back to win a 2nd consecutive National Championship
@EvilMonkeyInTheCloset
Has it been officially confirmed that Davis is returning? I know that when she transferred in, it was mentioned she wanted to stay two years. But it strikes me as odd that there hasn't an official announcement today because she is a senior and would be out of eligibility under normal circumstances.
Assuming Davis returns, the 2023-24 depth chart is as follows:
Clark/Davis/Kennise Johnson-Etienne
Marshall/McCabe/Feuerbach
Martin/Affolter/Wetering
Stuelke/Gyamfi/Ava Jones
O'Grady/Ediger/Goodman
3 players deep at every position and no room for more transfers or commits unless someone transfers out.
It has been said that we will have a logjam at the 4/5, but I would argue the bigger log jam is at the 2/3.
Assuming Davis returns, the 2023-24 depth chart is as follows:
Clark/Davis/Kennise Johnson-Etienne
Marshall/McCabe/Feuerbach
Martin/Affolter/Wetering
Stuelke/Gyamfi/Ava Jones
O'Grady/Ediger/Goodman
3 players deep at every position and no room for more transfers or commits unless someone transfers out.
It has been said that we will have a logjam at the 4/5, but I would argue the bigger log jam is at the 2/3.
I see McCabe getting more minutes. Her ability to hit the 3 is going to help make up for losing Monica. Also as much as i adore Gabby her shot is very inconsistent. I don't see any of the young players hitting the portal. I thought OGrady being the most likely but never know. Iowa would be hard to walk away from. I do know Caitlin was actively recruiting Kate to come back another year for most of the season. We need to make up for Monica's points and rebounding so i could see a really good big transferring in to play with Caitlin and the Hawkeyes. I'd love a strong center a couple inches taller than Monica.
It bears repeating: Unless we lose players to the portal, we have no more scholarships to offer.
Taylor won’t be going anywhere . Future is bright for her .
I think we lose 1 or 2 players to the portal. O'Grady is the obvious one because she seems to be struggling with the role they want her to play but if she is our starting center and nobody transfers out is it possible we go the nil route and get a walk on? With the popularity of Iowa women's ball i had considered it. Not sure if it's realistic though.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Good question. I was like 95% positive Bluder had confirmed this a few weeks ago actually.
Now, it’s indeed weird that there’s no graphic with a quote from her or whatever. Then again she does seem very quiet. She isn’t very enthusiastic about social media.
Just wanna point how funny it is that Stuelke is clearly better in the low post while O’Grady has the better jump shot lol. That may have something to do with how we perceive depth and the “logjams” — I think many of us just have higher hopes for the front court / see them we having higher ceilings, more skills, etc than the back court and therefore worry about transfers more often.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Just realized no one has mentioned how O’grady got minutes early in the Nebraska game. That was not on my bingo card. In this game and the game before, she looked good on the floor. It was nice to see and gave me some hope that she still has a bright future with us.
Usually when the starters commit to coming back, a couple reserves see the handwriting on the wall and decide to find another school...unless they just like Iowa and don't mind sitting on the bench another year. Lisa will find a way to get what they need, she may already know someone who leaving.
Excellent point. I would be comfortable with her being Monica's replacement although Monica has us spoiled.
Goodman looked very good in her freshman year, better than Czinano as a freshman I would say. It's tough to come back from a serious injury, though.
I would agree with this. Lisa has to know about one or two reserves likely leaving. She wouldn't leave herself without options, having shown that she is more open to the transfer portal now. She obviously wants to maximize the team's chances as long as Caitlin Clark is here.
I could see Sharon Goodman hanging it up. She seems to have lost all mobility on the court. Wetering seems like another good possibility to find her niche elsewhere. Ediger has said she really likes her DEI major at Iowa. I don't see anyone else wanting to leave from my outside perspective.
I would also say that Gabby may not be guaranteed a starting spot next year. She may be coming back with the understanding that she may have to compete with Kylie and Taylor for playing time.
Ediger has been wearing the black and gold Hawkeye uniform since middle school. She's not leaving
Do you see that Herky image on their mascot?
Yeah, Gabby's a nice little player, but they might be able to upgrade a little at that position.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
I have unsuccessfully asked twice now but if anyone knows of Goodman/Wetering’s other offers out of HS, I’d love to know. I’ve googled as well and haven’t found anything. I’d assume they were offered by Drake and UNI, what about ISU?
And yes, Edigar seems to absolutely love everything about her major, the culture, and the staff. When asked about why she chose Iowa, she says “100% the staff and what they stand for.” If she leaves for more playing time, I can’t blame her, but I do think it would be a tough decision for her.
I think Molly coming from Michigan has also been a boost for her, they traveled home together once and she calls her a “little gremlin” (lol) on social media so they seem to have hit it off.
I think Bluder could have handled this a little better by redshirting some of the freshmen. This Covid deal has really screwed over the freshmen and sophomores.
It looks like she got a butt chewing after being pulled. Not sure she is a great fit ?
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Literally no one understands how much our defense relies on Gabbie. Sometimes I wonder if Bluder just tells her to go 100 on D and let everyone else handle the O. She consistently achieves success on her defensive assignments, game in and game out.
A
anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
I missed that! I watched the game after the fact and fast forwarded thru quite a bit.
Some subs may be content with the Iowa degree and just being on the team. I would look at the out-of-state Top 100 kids as potential transfers, so Ediger and McCabe. Gyamfi is a Top 100 in-state and may be content being a role player. Also, does Feuerbach technically now have 3 years left still? Covid year, 1 year played, Medical Redshirt
A
