**NEW** Iowa Women's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[KyleHuesmann]

Well, glad she's at least staying in the B1G. Maybe Michigan will finally win a B1G title after all. Some of their fans were pretty dour about their chances to ever do it after losing this year.

In other news, did anyone see how PGH updated their rankings? Jasmine Brown has now taken the #1 spot in IL.

Jasmine jumped from #2 to #1 and DePaul commit Lisa Thompson fell to #3. Kennise Johnson-Etienne moved from #13 to #12.

7 of the top 12 in Illinois are committed to Big Ten schools, with Brown likely headed to one. DePaul, LSU have a commitment and two others undecided.

 

[undersized_post]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Iowa does not have a chance at landing any of the the Olivia Olsons and Britt Princes (I know, her commitment is still tbd) until Bluder retires and is replaced by, say, Jennie Baranczyk.

With that said, I love the roster stability we have had these last few years, despite the massive increase of transfers around the NCAA. I'd much rather root for a team with a stabile roster, good player development, and a culture of family than a program that is a revolving door of "top" talent that just wants to leave as soon as it arrives.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Iowa does not have a chance at landing any of the the Olivia Olsons and Britt Princes (I know, her commitment is still tbd) until Bluder retires and is replaced by, say, Jennie Baranczyk.

With that said, I love the roster stability we have had these last few years, despite the massive increase of transfers around the NCAA. I'd much rather root for a team with stabile roster, good player development, and a culture of family than a program that is a revolving door of "top" talent that just wants to leave as soon as it arrives.

I think I agree on this. It’s not the worst problem in the world to have. Our program is in an enviable position overall, but there will be a few unavoidable downsides to having a coach with 800+ wins. It is what it is. Fortunately, with the transfer portal here to stay, there’s no guarantee anyone will stay anywhere they’re heading. Disappointments for sophomores/juniors now could become pleasant surprises in 3-5 years.

In other news, my dark horse candidate for an eventual successor to LB, Kachine Alexander, has left the coaching world and transitioned to real estate.

 

[Gabe Sifuentes]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Iowa does not have a chance at landing any of the the Olivia Olsons and Britt Princes (I know, her commitment is still tbd) until Bluder retires and is replaced by, say, Jennie Baranczyk.

With that said, I love the roster stability we have had these last few years, despite the massive increase of transfers around the NCAA. I'd much rather root for a team with a stabile roster, good player development, and a culture of family than a program that is a revolving door of "top" talent that just wants to leave as soon as it arrives.

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

We actually do better recruiting rankings wise in WBB than we do in Men's BB and often better than football rankings wise.

Iowa City is also fairly small in comparison to other college towns in the B1G.

While we've had some level of success, we have one Elite Eight in the last 20 years. We also already have a PG commit for 2024 and who knows how much that factors in.

Iowa recruiting has actually improved over the past few seasons but it's hard to keep up with top tier programs.

Also I don't think Jenny B will be the next coach. If she has success at Oklahoma, I don't see her coming back to Iowa. We had a much better shot at landing her had Bluder retired prior to her taking the OK job. I would think if Bluder retires in the next year or two than Jan Jensen would take over. She can probably still coach for 8-10 years before she'd consider retiring. If Jensen were to retire with Bluder, then I would think Abby Stamp would likely be considered.

The only way Iowa is going to consistently have great recruiting classes is to put together some back to back Elite Eights/Final Fours.

We're going to have similar classes to what we've been getting with Top 100/150 type players and Top 15-25 as far as overall class rank.

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

We have maybe 3 spots for '24 with one filled by Callie Levin. I see us landing 1 more player likely looking someone at the 2 and then maybe grabbing a combo guard from the portal that can play all three guard positions.

 

[herkhatescy]

Well, glad she's at least staying in the B1G. Maybe Michigan will finally win a B1G title after all. Some of their fans were pretty dour about their chances to ever do it after losing this year.

In other news, did anyone see how PGH updated their rankings? Jasmine Brown has now taken the #1 spot in IL.

You would think you would want her out of the Big Ten.

 

[ZachJump]

You would think you would want her out of the Big Ten.

More talent we keep in conference the more talent that wants to come and compete against the better talent.

 

[herkhatescy]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

We actually do better recruiting rankings wise in WBB than we do in Men's BB and often better than football rankings wise.

Iowa City is also fairly small in comparison to other college towns in the B1G.

While we've had some level of success, we have one Elite Eight in the last 20 years. We also already have a PG commit for 2024 and who knows how much that factors in.

Iowa recruiting has actually improved over the past few seasons but it's hard to keep up with top tier programs.

Also I don't think Jenny B will be the next coach. If she has success at Oklahoma, I don't see her coming back to Iowa. We had a much better shot at landing her had Bluder retired prior to her taking the OK job. I would think if Bluder retires in the next year or two than Jan Jensen would take over. She can probably still coach for 8-10 years before she'd consider retiring. If Jensen were to retire with Bluder, then I would think Abby Stamp would likely be considered.

The only way Iowa is going to consistently have great recruiting classes is to put together some back to back Elite Eights/Final Fours.

We're going to have similar classes to what we've been getting with Top 100/150 type players and Top 15-25 as far as overall class rank.

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

We have maybe 3 spots for '24 with one filled by Callie Levin. I see us landing 1 more player likely looking someone at the 2 and then maybe grabbing a combo guard from the portal that can play all three guard positions.

Jan Jensen will leave when Lisa leaves. If she wanted to be a head coach I'm pretty sure she could have been by now.

 

[herkhatescy]

More talent we keep in conference the more talent that wants to come and compete against the better talent.

You won't think that when she beats us on a last second shot.

 

[herkhatescy]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

We actually do better recruiting rankings wise in WBB than we do in Men's BB and often better than football rankings wise.

Iowa City is also fairly small in comparison to other college towns in the B1G.

While we've had some level of success, we have one Elite Eight in the last 20 years. We also already have a PG commit for 2024 and who knows how much that factors in.

Iowa recruiting has actually improved over the past few seasons but it's hard to keep up with top tier programs.

Also I don't think Jenny B will be the next coach. If she has success at Oklahoma, I don't see her coming back to Iowa. We had a much better shot at landing her had Bluder retired prior to her taking the OK job. I would think if Bluder retires in the next year or two than Jan Jensen would take over. She can probably still coach for 8-10 years before she'd consider retiring. If Jensen were to retire with Bluder, then I would think Abby Stamp would likely be considered.

The only way Iowa is going to consistently have great recruiting classes is to put together some back to back Elite Eights/Final Fours.

We're going to have similar classes to what we've been getting with Top 100/150 type players and Top 15-25 as far as overall class rank.

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

We have maybe 3 spots for '24 with one filled by Callie Levin. I see us landing 1 more player likely looking someone at the 2 and then maybe grabbing a combo guard from the portal that can play all three guard positions.

I think Raina Harmon would be a better coach than Abby Stamp.

 

[ZachJump]

You won't think that when she beats us on a last second shot.

No...not in that moment.

Just do believe long term it is better to have more talent we compete against.

 

[creslin_hawk]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

We actually do better recruiting rankings wise in WBB than we do in Men's BB and often better than football rankings wise.

Iowa City is also fairly small in comparison to other college towns in the B1G.

While we've had some level of success, we have one Elite Eight in the last 20 years. We also already have a PG commit for 2024 and who knows how much that factors in.

Iowa recruiting has actually improved over the past few seasons but it's hard to keep up with top tier programs.

Also I don't think Jenny B will be the next coach. If she has success at Oklahoma, I don't see her coming back to Iowa. We had a much better shot at landing her had Bluder retired prior to her taking the OK job. I would think if Bluder retires in the next year or two than Jan Jensen would take over. She can probably still coach for 8-10 years before she'd consider retiring. If Jensen were to retire with Bluder, then I would think Abby Stamp would likely be considered.

The only way Iowa is going to consistently have great recruiting classes is to put together some back to back Elite Eights/Final Fours.

We're going to have similar classes to what we've been getting with Top 100/150 type players and Top 15-25 as far as overall class rank.

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

We have maybe 3 spots for '24 with one filled by Callie Levin. I see us landing 1 more player likely looking someone at the 2 and then maybe grabbing a combo guard from the portal that can play all three guard positions.

Yesterday at the lunch was the 2nd time I have heard Clark say she has 2 maybe 3 years left. I'm starting to wonder if she is taking a hard look at the covid year. Its possible the wnba could be a pay cut for her if NIL keeps growing. It might be a factor in recruits? I still think she goes after 4 and keeps most of her partnerships.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Yesterday at the lunch was the 2nd time I have heard Clark say she has 2 maybe 3 years left. I'm starting to wonder if she is taking a hard look at the covid year. Its possible the wnba could be a pay cut for her if NIL keeps growing. It might be a factor in recruits? I still think she goes after 4 and keeps most of her partnerships.

I don't know anything but I've been convinced she will take the COVID year for awhile now. Here are things I've heard her say:

• I love playing for Bluder and I want to win as many games for her as I can
• I never wanna leave college / Iowa City
• I look forward to / am excited about my 2 maybe 3 remaining years at Iowa (said this twice now)

I'm sure the WNBA will be a paycut -- she is making over a million a year already according to ESPN. If she gets NPOY, that will only increase. I would assume the reason she's not coming out and saying it is b/c she doesn't want to deter any top PG recruits from considering Iowa. Furthermore tbh, she is very media-savvy. I'm sure she understands the value of the "will she or won't she" storyline.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

I think Raina Harmon would be a better coach than Abby Stamp.

I think hiring a woman of color could be a very smart move.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

You won't think that when she beats us on a last second shot.

No, the B1G needs to continue to improve to compete with the SEC, and therefore get the kinds of recruits that only consider the SEC as worth their talent. In the same vein, I welcome the possibility of Stanford joining the B1G for that reason. We should hope to regularly have 4 (or more) teams in the Sweet 16, as we have the past couple seasons.

We have risen to the occasion twice now when a higher regarded program joined the conference -- first Nebraska, then Maryland (Rutgers as well, but that's a different story). There's no reason we shouldn't welcome playing the best teams in the country year in and year out.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.....

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

To be totally clear, I am not frustrated or disappointed in Bluder's recruiting abilities AT ALL. I couldn't be more pleased with our recruits from '20 til now (including transfers -- which is now part of the game).

I also don't think we have a "problem" -- I just think we have a ceiling. And I agree with all of your points as to why. I also think that that ceilling makes sense, considering Bluder's age / resumé (which, as you put very well, is successful, but not elite). The simple truth is that for some athletes, the older a coach gets, the less likely that recruit may be to hit it off with them, and for some other recruits, they don't want to worry about a coach leaving while they're on the roster. And finally, for some other recruits, they look at a program's (coach's) body of work and judge their ceiling by that. All recruits? Not at all, but quite a few are gonna fall into one of those camps. Top 5 recruits can and will let any little concern knock a program out of the running.

I have loved watching the growth of this program. I started following in 2008 -- very few programs out there have had a trajectory like ours. I really believe that we have a path to either an Elite 8 or Final 4 this year and next, but those are invariably huge achievements. It's a tall order to expect that kind of success, so I don't think we as fans should. The burden of proof is on the players and coaches to prove that is something we can and will achieve.

So, unless either an achievement like that happens OR someone young and exciting with a fresh, ambitious sales pitch takes the helm, I agree that we're not likely to grab more Top 5 recruits in the next few years. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we can't continue to compete for Top 50 recruits, just like Stuelke and Edigar. We're clearly in the running for Ava Heiden (she liked my tweet today retweeting the Iowa B1G schedule btw) as well as Jasmine Brown. Greenway may very well end up a Top 50 recruit too. If our ceiling is somewhere between #10-#15 but our floor is somwhere between #75-#100, that's a great place to be. We're not quite there yet (I think MD is the closest analogy for this, which is actually a downgrade from where they were a few years ago), but I think we're closer than anyone else at our level to getting over the hump.

Rutgers, MN, PSU, Purdue have had similar (or more) success than us and have completely imploded. In other conferences, KY, OR, Oregon State, MS State are hanging on by a thread. They would all love to be in our position, and if you peruse some of their forums, you'll see them say such things tbh. There's actually kind of a vacuum right now in terms of Blue Bloods since so many schools (TN, ND, Baylor) have had somewhat epic falls from grace. I do think that's part of the reason we're getting so much attention right now.

OO committing to Mich after they hit the Elite 8 and KBA won B1G COY reminds me a lot of CC committing to Iowa after we made the Elite 8 and Bluder won NCOY. Those kinds of achievements pay off in recruiting. But there's an expiration to that glamour. I do think we are approaching or have just hit that (4 seasons later). Fortunately, we now have another opportunity to either replicate that success or exceed it. Again, not a bad place to be...it's just that succeeding is always harder the second time.

 

[KyleHuesmann]

Addison Bjorn (#1) and Ava Miles (#4) land in the top 5 of the initial 2026 Missouri Prep Girls Hoops rankings.

 

[creslin_hawk]

Addison Bjorn (#1) and Ava Miles (#4) land in the top 5 of the initial 2026 Missouri Prep Girls Hoops rankings.

Would be nice to get one or both of them

 

[jockos]

Jan Jensen has said many times, including a HR podcast in the past she'd love to be the head coach at Iowa once Lisa decides to retire. She really loves Iowa City and working for Lisa which his why she is still at Iowa. Abby Stamp isn't ready to be a head coach, she's been on staff but only in a coaching role for 3 seasons now. I like Raina, if you've met her she's fully of energy and personable but I see her first HC job at a directional school like Central Michigan or somewhere like that. I don't think convincing Jennie Barancyzk to come home to Iowa again will be that difficult.

A couple other options should be UCLA Associate HC Shannon LeBeauf who played for Vivian at Iowa (Shannon Perry) and was an assistant for a season at Iowa too. She's well respected and ready to be a HC, but would she come back to Iowa is the question since she grew up in Southern California. The other one, probably more realistic is Tangela Smith who Vivian recruited to Iowa and is now the Associate Head Coach at Northwestern.

 

[AMAYS]

. . . We have risen to the occasion twice now when a higher regarded program joined the conference -- first Nebraska, then Maryland (Rutgers as well, but that's a different story).

You're making some interesting recruiting points, but calling Nebraska a "higher regarded program" when it joined the Big 10 in 2012 is way off base, IMO. In the 10 years before Nebraska joined the Big Ten, they had 1 Sweet 16 [Iowa had 0], 3 NCAA appearances [Iowa had 7], and 1 appearance in the final AP poll [Iowa had 1] (poll info per college poll archive). That is scarcely the resume of a "higher regarded program." One good year, 2010, did not make Nebraska a higher regarded program, especially when that year was followed up by Nebraska going 3-13 and finishing last in its last year in the Big 12.

Comparing Nebraska to Maryland, in terms of the need for Big Ten teams to up their games to compete, is also absurd. Maryland went to the Final Four their last year in the ACC (and had 4 other Elite Eights in the 10 years before joining the Big Ten); Maryland then went 18-0 their first year in the Big Ten. Maryland unquestionably was a higher regarded program when it joined the Big Ten; Nebraska not so much.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

You're making some interesting recruiting points, but calling Nebraska a "higher regarded program" when it joined the Big 10 in 2012 is way off base, IMO. In the 10 years before Nebraska joined the Big Ten, they had 1 Sweet 16 [Iowa had 0], 3 NCAA appearances [Iowa had 7], and 1 appearance in the final AP poll [Iowa had 1] (poll info per college poll archive). That is scarcely the resume of a "higher regarded program." One good year, 2010, did not make Nebraska a higher regarded program, especially when that year was followed up by Nebraska going 3-13 and finishing last in its last year in the Big 12.

Comparing Nebraska to Maryland, in terms of the need for Big Ten teams to up their games to compete, is also absurd. Maryland went to the Final Four their last year in the ACC (and had 4 other Elite Eights in the 10 years before joining the Big Ten); Maryland then went 18-0 their first year in the Big Ten. Maryland unquestionably was a higher regarded program when it joined the Big Ten; Nebraska not so much.

Lol okay down boy. I just remember a painful stretch of ~8 games where it felt like we would never beat them. They were instantly highly competitive upon joining the B1G and beat us in the 2014 Tourney Final.

You’re right that we have the better history going back decades (Whoo!) — good call. But I only started following in ~2008. They joined the B1G not long after and in those early days, they were, well, pretty hot shit. I think they at least had greater notoriety than us at the time (Rachel Theriot was quite a star, Yori was racking up awards). They were a #1 seed in 2010, I believe. They have obviously taken a step back since (on another note, I think they will be incredibly dangerous this year and likely more motivated to beat us than anyone save for Indiana).

 

[undersized_post]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

I don't think Iowa is harder to recruit to than Oklahoma. Jennie B has already signed some great classes there.

 

[BraydonRoberts5]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Iowa does not have a chance at landing any of the the Olivia Olsons and Britt Princes (I know, her commitment is still tbd) until Bluder retires and is replaced by, say, Jennie Baranczyk.

With that said, I love the roster stability we have had these last few years, despite the massive increase of transfers around the NCAA. I'd much rather root for a team with a stabile roster, good player development, and a culture of family than a program that is a revolving door of "top" talent that just wants to leave as soon as it arrives.

I fear this is correct. Frankly, it might be why Maddyn Greenway (as an example) hasn't committed yet. Even if she is 99% certain she wants to play at Iowa, why commit years before you need to if there is any question about who your coach might be?

Coach Bluder has certainly earned the right to retire whenever she wants to. She's built a program we can all be proud of, and there's some chance in the next 2-3 years that the team could achieve as much or more than it ever has.

But the Clark years were also a chance for Iowa to take that next step and turn into a program that routinely finishes at the top of the conference. I fear that won't happen unless we can land more top recruits for the years after Clark leaves.

 

[KyleHuesmann]

I fear this is correct. Frankly, it might be why Maddyn Greenway (as an example) hasn't committed yet. Even if she is 99% certain she wants to play at Iowa, why commit years before you need to if there is any question about who your coach might be?

Coach Bluder has certainly earned the right to retire whenever she wants to. She's built a program we can all be proud of, and there's some chance in the next 2-3 years that the team could achieve as much or more than it ever has.

But the Clark years were also a chance for Iowa to take that next step and turn into a program that routinely finishes at the top of the conference. I fear that won't happen unless we can land more top recruits for the years after Clark leaves.

I’ve gotten more of the vibe that Maddyn and her family want to go through the entire recruiting process rather than just getting the Iowa offer and committing.

As for Lisa, she is only 61 and unless something happens health wise, I don’t see her leaving in the next couple years.

 

[KyleHuesmann]

I’ve gotten more of the vibe that Maddyn and her family want to go through the entire recruiting process rather than just getting the Iowa offer and committing.

As for Lisa, she is only 61 and unless something happens health wise, I don’t see her leaving in the next couple years.

If Bluder averages 20-24 wins for the next 8-9 years she will hit 1000 career wins. I think that is something she wants to get to if she is healthy all the way through.

 

[AMAYS]

. . . the B1G needs to continue to improve to compete with the SEC, and therefore get the kinds of recruits that only consider the SEC as worth their talent.

More talent we keep in conference the more talent that wants to come and compete against the better talent.

Agree with these sentiments. If the Big Ten is to escape being a sub Final 4 conference, need to be able to recruit the McDonald's All Americans that go to the ACC, SEC, PAC-12, UCONN and BIG 12 (to a lesser degree). From 2010-2022, 44 of the 48 teams to play in the Final 4 had multiple McDonald's All Americans. Last season, each of the four teams in the Final 4 had 6 or more McD AAs. Unless I missed another transfer, with Angel Reese and Ashley Owusu leaving the Big Ten, and Greta Kampschroeder joining the Big Ten, next season the Big Ten will have a grand total of 2 McD AAs (Clark and Kampschroeder). That talent deficit is really hard (not impossible) to overcome in the NCAA Tourney.

 

[HIWILLE]

To be totally clear, I am not frustrated or disappointed in Bluder's recruiting abilities AT ALL. I couldn't be more pleased with our recruits from '20 til now (including transfers -- which is now part of the game).

I also don't think we have a "problem" -- I just think we have a ceiling. And I agree with all of your points as to why. I also think that that ceilling makes sense, considering Bluder's age / resumé (which, as you put very well, is successful, but not elite). The simple truth is that for some athletes, the older a coach gets, the less likely that recruit may be to hit it off with them, and for some other recruits, they don't want to worry about a coach leaving while they're on the roster. And finally, for some other recruits, they look at a program's (coach's) body of work and judge their ceiling by that. All recruits? Not at all, but quite a few are gonna fall into one of those camps. Top 5 recruits can and will let any little concern knock a program out of the running.

I have loved watching the growth of this program. I started following in 2008 -- very few programs out there have had a trajectory like ours. I really believe that we have a path to either an Elite 8 or Final 4 this year and next, but those are invariably huge achievements. It's a tall order to expect that kind of success, so I don't think we as fans should. The burden of proof is on the players and coaches to prove that is something we can and will achieve.

So, unless either an achievement like that happens OR someone young and exciting with a fresh, ambitious sales pitch takes the helm, I agree that we're not likely to grab more Top 5 recruits in the next few years. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we can't continue to compete for Top 50 recruits, just like Stuelke and Edigar. We're clearly in the running for Ava Heiden (she liked my tweet today retweeting the Iowa B1G schedule btw) as well as Jasmine Brown. Greenway may very well end up a Top 50 recruit too. If our ceiling is somewhere between #10-#15 but our floor is somwhere between #75-#100, that's a great place to be. We're not quite there yet (I think MD is the closest analogy for this, which is actually a downgrade from where they were a few years ago), but I think we're closer than anyone else at our level to getting over the hump.

Rutgers, MN, PSU, Purdue have had similar (or more) success than us and have completely imploded. In other conferences, KY, OR, Oregon State, MS State are hanging on by a thread. They would all love to be in our position, and if you peruse some of their forums, you'll see them say such things tbh. There's actually kind of a vacuum right now in terms of Blue Bloods since so many schools (TN, ND, Baylor) have had somewhat epic falls from grace. I do think that's part of the reason we're getting so much attention right now.

OO committing to Mich after they hit the Elite 8 and KBA won B1G COY reminds me a lot of CC committing to Iowa after we made the Elite 8 and Bluder won NCOY. Those kinds of achievements pay off in recruiting. But there's an expiration to that glamour. I do think we are approaching or have just hit that (4 seasons later). Fortunately, we now have another opportunity to either replicate that success or exceed it. Again, not a bad place to be...it's just that succeeding is always harder the second time.

Just wondering do you write books😉

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Just wondering do you write books😉

I do have a masters degree in journalism

 

[Gabe Sifuentes]

I don't think Iowa is harder to recruit to than Oklahoma. Jennie B has already signed some great classes there.

Iowa still has the perception of being rural and mostly farms. Norman is 20 minutes from Oklahoma City with a slightly warmer climate. Norman could be very appealing as far as atmosphere/environment. I just feel it's an easier sell for things not related to BB or academics.

Iowa's campus compared to other schools is pretty spread out and not real exciting. And while there's the downtown, it does not compare to downtown Oklahoma City. Iowa probably wins on academics and game atmosphere. I just feel Iowa City is a tough sell to any recruit. Football can recruit because of the NFL pipeline that's been established. Fran has never had a ton of success recruiting on the men's side. Mostly his rosters have been in-state kids and under the radar type of guys. Bluder has done OK but she's only had a handful of high major recruits and the far majority of her recruits are in-state or from surrounding states.

Iowa has had more overall success but we are living in the what have you done for me lately era. Recruits are more likely to remember the 2nd round flop last year than the Elite Eight run.

Also, in terms of the transfer portal, the SEC boosters have huge pockets to throw around NIL deals. While Iowa is making strides in terms of NIL, we are still way behind (with the exception of Clark maybe).

I like Jenny B, I just don't see her in a hurry to come back. You have to figure Bluder will stay at least 2-3 more years and by that time Jenny might have a few deep tourney runs under her belt. I don't know that Iowa is a huge step up -- save for maybe the attendance at CHA. Of course another Elite Eight or Final Four run could boost Iowa's appeal for her. The appeal of building her own program in Norman might be more appealing for her if Iowa doesn't have tourney success.

 

[JEDN]

Three major draws for Jennie B,
1) former player
2) still has many family members in the state
3) by her own admission loves the state

With that said I have no idea if she desires to ever return and coach the Hawks.

 

[Gabe Sifuentes]

Three major draws for Jennie B,
1) former player
2) still has many family members in the state
3) by her own admission loves the state

With that said I have no idea if she desires to ever return and coach the Hawks.

I'm not saying she definitely wouldn't return. Just saying she's likely not the lock people think she is. And if she continues to have success at Oklahoma, then it becomes less likely she returns.

I still feel that the next coach will be Jensen should Bluder retire in the short run and Abby Stamp should Bluder stay more than 3 years before retiring. Stamp has been involved with the program for going on 15 seasons now. She's still relatively young and would ensure continuity within the program. She could invite the next generation of Hawkeyes to comeback as assistants, namely Jaime Printy and Tania Davis who are young coaches just still "getting started" so to speak.

Jennie B is a great coach but there's not really that much difference in what she brings to the table and what Iowa gets promoting from within. Abby is well qualified and understands multiple facets of what it takes to run a program. If Jensen is planning to retire with Bluder (and I'm sure Bluder would know), then I would put money that Bluder is already grooming Abby to be the next coach.

 

[KyleHuesmann]

 

[fish1hawk]

I do not think Bluder is the problem. The issue is Iowa itself. We are a top program but not an elite program and we are geographically isolated. It's a 4-5 hour drive to any real major city (not counting Des Moines). By contrast Ann Arbor is almost double Iowa City's population and is a mere 45 minutes from Detroit. Lincoln is more than 3 times larger than Iowa City with close proximity to Omaha also. I think for young people there's a perception that most other college towns have more to offer entertainment wise.

We actually do better recruiting rankings wise in WBB than we do in Men's BB and often better than football rankings wise.

Iowa City is also fairly small in comparison to other college towns in the B1G.

While we've had some level of success, we have one Elite Eight in the last 20 years. We also already have a PG commit for 2024 and who knows how much that factors in.

Iowa recruiting has actually improved over the past few seasons but it's hard to keep up with top tier programs.

Also I don't think Jenny B will be the next coach. If she has success at Oklahoma, I don't see her coming back to Iowa. We had a much better shot at landing her had Bluder retired prior to her taking the OK job. I would think if Bluder retires in the next year or two than Jan Jensen would take over. She can probably still coach for 8-10 years before she'd consider retiring. If Jensen were to retire with Bluder, then I would think Abby Stamp would likely be considered.

The only way Iowa is going to consistently have great recruiting classes is to put together some back to back Elite Eights/Final Fours.

We're going to have similar classes to what we've been getting with Top 100/150 type players and Top 15-25 as far as overall class rank.

We have the best freshman class I can ever remember and much needed athleticism. If we crash the glass this year, we should have a realistic shot at the final four. There were several close games we could have won handily had we not given the other team 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance points.

We have maybe 3 spots for '24 with one filled by Callie Levin. I see us landing 1 more player likely looking someone at the 2 and then maybe grabbing a combo guard from the portal that can play all three guard positions.

Spot on

 

[JEDN]

Iowa has 3 huge advantages over Michigan:
1) much longer and better basketball tradition
2) huge advantage in attendance
3) much more exciting style of play
All sports at Michigan are the little stepchildren of Mich football while Iowa womens basketball is very popular.

 

[natchrlman]

Iowa has 3 huge advantages over Michigan:
1) much longer and better basketball tradition
2) huge advantage in attendance
3) much more exciting style of play
All sports at Michigan are the little stepchildren of Mich football while Iowa womens basketball is very popular.

as will be Iowa Women's wrestling …… it started with Dr.Christine Grant……she laid a solid foundation for Iowa women’s sports

 

[DougERot]

Iowa has 3 huge advantages over Michigan:
1) much longer and better basketball tradition
2) huge advantage in attendance
3) much more exciting style of play
All sports at Michigan are the little stepchildren of Mich football while Iowa womens basketball is very popular.

Michigan does have a huge advantage in academics. I do think that academics tend to be a more important factor for high school girls than boys. If you remember Olson's final eight, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Michigan, etc are elite academic institutions compared to Iowa. Yes Iowa does have basketball advantages but that gap is closing in the Big10.

 

[undersized_post]

KBA is a great coach, fantastic recruiter, and beloved by her players. First she built an excellent program at St. John's, which culminated in a program-defining upset of #2-ranked UConn and the their only Sweet 16 appearance in 2012. She then took an unremarkable Michigan program and steadily improved it each season, leading them to their greatest season ever this past year. I am absolutely not surprised top recruits trust what she is building and are excited to play for her.

[Edited to add:]
Jennie B did similar things at Drake. Now she has taken over an Oklahoma program that was historically elite but was desperately floundering in recent years. She has already shown signs of turning it around. I want her back in Iowa City.

 

[AMAYS]

Michigan does have a huge advantage in academics. . . . Yes Iowa does have basketball advantages but that gap is closing in the Big10.

In the ‘22-‘24 recruiting classes, six players committed to Michigan while holding an Iowa offer. Michigan had geographical advantages for the Michigan and Indiana players, but not the Minnesota and Illinois players.

‘22
Kate Clarke-Carmel Indiana
Alyssa Crockett-Westfield Indiana

‘23
Taylor Woodson, Hopkins, Minnesota
Katy Eidle, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Macy Brown, Grand Rapids, Michigan

‘24
Olivia Olson, St. Louis Park, Minnesota

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Michigan will be very difficult to beat on the recruiting trail.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

In the ‘22-‘24 recruiting classes, six players committed to Michigan while holding an Iowa offer. Michigan had geographical advantages for the Michigan and Indiana players, but not the Minnesota and Illinois players.

‘22
Kate Clarke-Carmel Indiana
Alyssa Crockett-Westfield Indiana

‘23
Taylor Woodson, Hopkins, Minnesota
Katy Eidle, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Macy Brown, Grand Rapids, Michigan

‘24
Olivia Olson, St. Louis Park, Minnesota

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Michigan will be very difficult to beat on the recruiting trail.

Not to mention their major gets in Cameron Williams and Greta Kampschroeder (IL) and Laila Phelia (OH).

FWIW I think Mich is likely to be more competitive than Indiana in coming years, and I think people are (understandably) overlooking them headed into the season. IU is likely to continue to struggle with depth while Mich is shaping up to have lots of options, they just need to calibrate first. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them win all their “easy” games this season and knock off MD or IU.

 

[DougERot]

Not to mention their major gets in Cameron Williams and Greta Kampschroeder (IL) and Laila Phelia (OH).

FWIW I think Mich is likely to be more competitive than Indiana in coming years, and I think people are (understandably) overlooking them headed into the season. IU is likely to continue to struggle with depth while Mich is shaping up to have lots of options, they just need to calibrate first. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them win all their “easy” games this season and knock off MD or IU.

Maybe a WBB power will be calling to lure coach KBA away.

 

[undersized_post]

Not to mention their major gets in Cameron Williams (IL) and Laila Phelia (OH). FWIW I think MI is likely to be more competitive than Indiana in coming years, and I think people are (understandably) overlooking them headed into the season. IU is likely to continue to struggle with depth while MI is shaping up to have lots of option. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them win all their “easy” games this season and knock off MD or IU.

Agree that UMich is being overlooked. Regarding Indiana, Teri Moren has also done a great job getting her current players core group of players to buy into her system -- strong defensive fundamentals and a more old-fashioned offense relying on paint points and midrange 2's. But-- she has had lots of transfers out (mostly bench warmers), and hasn't signed many top domestic recruits, instead relying on international players. I'm curious if that's going to be sustainable, and how their transfers will pan out this season. I'm also curious how they'll use Scalia on the offensive end, and she is a better shooter than IU has had in multiple seasons.

For reference, I live in Indiana and following the IU program quite closely. (Though I'd choose Iowa every day of the week and twice on Sunday )