Iowa has a HUGE hole in its lineup next year at center. They wasted 2 years of scholarship on failed project Josh Ogundele. They wasted another year of scholarship on a low touted high school kid so that he could graduate a year early to sit on the bench this year because Fran was unable to land a grad transfer. With Ogundele leaving (likely to a much lower level of basketball), neither are likely to contribute next year.
So why not put the full court press on to bring in Xavier Foster from the portal? The guy was the #1 in-state prospect in Iowa in 2020 and #78 prospect nationwide after averaging 24 points (including 93 3 pointers) and 10 rebounds at Oskaloosa. Iowa lacks a center and there's a home grown 4 star center who almost picked Iowa out of high school. It's a no brainer.
He got hurt his freshman year at ISU and only saw real minutes in two games. The first was when he matched up head to head with national player of the year Luka Garza. He had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and a block in just 14 minutes. Not bad for a true freshmen 7 footer. In his next game against Kansas State, he played just 13 minutes but had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
The Hawks can give scholarships to Austin Ash and Josh Ogundele, but aren't bothering to recruit a guy in their own back yard who can actually match up with Big 10 centers? How does that make sense?
So why not put the full court press on to bring in Xavier Foster from the portal? The guy was the #1 in-state prospect in Iowa in 2020 and #78 prospect nationwide after averaging 24 points (including 93 3 pointers) and 10 rebounds at Oskaloosa. Iowa lacks a center and there's a home grown 4 star center who almost picked Iowa out of high school. It's a no brainer.
He got hurt his freshman year at ISU and only saw real minutes in two games. The first was when he matched up head to head with national player of the year Luka Garza. He had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and a block in just 14 minutes. Not bad for a true freshmen 7 footer. In his next game against Kansas State, he played just 13 minutes but had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
The Hawks can give scholarships to Austin Ash and Josh Ogundele, but aren't bothering to recruit a guy in their own back yard who can actually match up with Big 10 centers? How does that make sense?