You are right about Michael Morgan being on Lisa's initial staff in 2000. His daughter, Crystal Smith, came on two years later in 2002. Michael coached one more year after she graduated.
**NEW** Iowa Women's Basketball Recruiting Thread
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Maddy Greenway is as close to a lock as it gets. If she brings along the player whose name starts with an O, hard name to remember, we'll have the 2 best players in Minnesota for that year. Both are going to be great at the next level.
Her name is Tori Oehrlein. Both she and Greenway have already scored 2,000 career points as 9th graders. Doubt Iowa has a chance to get her too, but that would be phenomenal.
I know she's said she would love to play with Maddy as they have become good friends. That would,be the in Iowa has with her but it's a window and not a door.
Michael Morgan directed Lisa Bluder's basketball camps when she's the head coach at Drake. They went back a long time before Crystal Smith was a factor. Besides, Crystal Smith was not a prominent recruit. She hardly even played in her first two years at Iowa. It's the opposite of Kelsey Mitchell. Crystal became known to Iowa because her dad was on the coaching staff.
Greenway is waiting for the offers from UConn and Stanford. Once they arrive, she will commit to Iowa
Hawk Talk update: Bluder was asked about Nebraska being a team they compete with when it comes to recruits. She said they haven’t had too many that have been in direct battles but feels they are about to enter one right now. “I think there is one that we are both going after very hard” I would assume this is about Britt Prince.
The only reason I'm not sure about it being Prince is the 2023 and 2024 classes right now have 3 guards and 1 post (I'm excluding Ava for the moment). If we're only going to take 1 more prospect in 2024 is it really going to be another guard?
Prince is probably talented enough to leave that scholarship if she wants it, but those two classes would lead to a really unbalanced roster.
If we lose a big after the season, and I really really hope we don't, then as much as I dislike going to the portal, I hope we could get a good center with a couple years of eligibility left.
if Iowa women want to really compete for the big prize next year they absolutely have to recruit the portal this spring. JMO
I just realized that unless someone leaves we have no more scholarships for 23. And if Clark wants to come back for her Covid year we are also full for 24, unless someone leaves. Right?
I actually just came here to bring up this same 2nd point in regards to this potential Britt Prince situation.
Bluder recently said "we have 1 spot left for 2024, we may or may not fill it." It's crazy to think that she would knowingly fill that slot that would be there for Clark. That leads me to believe a) Clark has decided not to return (quite a shock to me tbh, in fact very doubtful) or b) She knows someone else is going to transfer OR c) she and UNL are going to be competing for another recruit that is not in the class of 2024.
I for one have no idea who that would be though. Does anyone know if a '25 / '26 recruit might have an offer from + notable affection for Nebraska? It could be someone a bit more under the radar (not as highly regarded) that we're both recruiting, I know there are a few Iowa native recruits that have flown under the radar.
And yes you're right, we're full for 2023. But again, Bluder may anticipate that someone is leaving....
It's not difficult for me to imagine a world where Bluder lets Clark graduate b/c she doesn't want to jeopardize the future of the program. But now that she's brought back Czinano, Marshall and Martin and waxed poetic about how much it means to have them all back another year...it seems nuts that she wouldn't want the same for Clark.
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Sometimes you have to wonder if we're really NOT trying to compete for the big prize. Would Bluder bring back Martin and Marshall if the goal was a NC? You'd think she'd know the trade-off she is making. It may very well be that she believes in her current kids and prioritizes those relationships and developmental journeys more than she wants to be in a position to win a NC.
In the grand scheme of things, there's really nothing wrong with having an Elite 8 / Sweet 16 caliber team that can also compete for a B1G title over the course of a few years. This is a position most D1 Schools never get to experience. Diehard fans want more but that doesn't mean she owes it to us to be more cut-throat.
We shall see.
This has been my thinking as well for a while. And I can see her point. It would be easier to sell a recruit if they know the coach isn't going to run to the portal and recruit over them, but give them a fare chance to prove themselves.
I don't think taking 1 more 2024 recruit is a huge worry re: Clark taking a super senior season. Chances are pretty high that someone will transfer out this off-season or next off-season. That's just the reality of the transfer portal era and having a 15 player roster.
And by the time Clark graduates, we should have more clarity about Ava Jones' health moving forward. It's possible she will never be able to play and if she took a medical retirement that would also free up a scholarship.
There's no guarantee that letting Martin and Marshall graduate and trying to use the portal to replace them would work. If I recall correctly, Molly Davis was listed as a Top 10-15 portal target at some point last year. She's been an important part of our team, but hasn't transformed the team by any stretch.
Indiana added 3 players from the portal this off-season, but Parrish and Scalia are arguably only their 5th and 6th most important players, and Geary doesn't play much.
I do remember Coach Bluder herself said that Ava Jones was unlikely to play again.
It maybe more acceptable to the team to have teammates return than portal 2 from somewhere else. Not certain of this but the players on the team likely knew before us. the impression so far the team is OK. I also suspect the backups to Kate and Maggie minutes will be advanced.
You make it sound like the portal is loaded with 5 stars, and that there aren't 300 other schools also recruiting the portal.
How do you figure that? Obviously, you need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I said:
"if Iowa women want to really compete for the big prize next year they absolutely have to recruit the portal this spring. JMO"
May or may not be any help there, but several teams last year found high caliber recruits in the portal.
I suspect McCabe and Syd minutes will go up developing them
I don't remember that her saying that. That very well may be the consensus though.
that’s true…… but there’s a lot of conjecture being tossed around in that post….. I could of probably come up with a better addition I’ll grant that
I simply don’t think speculating that Lisa may be trying not to win national titles contributes much either
Look I rarely check these boards anymore I moved to the new site but I’ve always got along with Shikreto and actually defended him on here occasionally….. that particular post however I found silly…… I’m entitled to an opinion right?
Omg I did not mean that she was trying to NOT win. I was saying that maybe loyalty to her players is a higher priority to her than doing everything in her power to win a NC. People on this sub (and many more outside of it) always talk about winning a NC as though it’s the be all end all of any season. As though if you can’t compete in a Final 4, you’re worthless.
But I’ve said before that we have much to be proud of beyond NCAA tourney results and if that’s all you care about, you’re going to look at 99% of seasons as a failure. It doesn’t sound very fun. Maryland is the kind of fan base where fans call for their coach to be fired bc she can’t get past the Sweet 16. On their message boards, on Twitter, on Reddit. Every season. We are not Maryland and I don’t want to be. Sounds miserable.
Bluder has never been cut-throat, even when it comes to starting lineups. So maybe it’s a good idea to stop expecting her to all of a sudden become hardcore and cold-blooded in the portal, bringing in as many ringers as she can to start over her other athletes who have been with her for years.
Maybe the very reasons we respect her so much are the reasons why we won’t be a shoe-in for a Final Four next year. And IMO if we’re just a typical, run-of-the-mill perennial Sweet 16 contender over the next 3-5 seasons, that’s still a pretty good place to be. Lots of programs would envy that.
Help me out. By "big prize" I think you mean a national championship. By "recruiting the portal to compete for the big prize" I think you mean Iowa needs starters from the portal. But maybe you mean we need a few good non-starters from the portal to compete for the National Championship??
How many women in the portal this summer will be worthy of starting on National Championship team? How many schools will pursue those couple of players? It's just not that easy.
I think Lisa is trying to maintain our program at a high level ,the best she can. This year’s incoming class has no for sure immediate help. The following class looks stronger and will have more developed players on the team. Stuelke, Sydney, McCabe, and hopefully others. I think we need to chill on all the NC or it’s a bust. The only sport we have that has the talent to compete wrestling. Enjoy a program that plays at a high level.
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