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

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Have to disagree. The 2020 class is Bluder’s best class. WBB is overwhelmingly about elite quality. Players in the bottom half of the top 100 are rarely the type of player that can lead a team to the Final Four. You need the elite star or superstar. Even if Ava Heiden stays near the bottom of the top 40, I’d take 1 top 5 player over the ‘24 class.

I understand your POV, and ESPN agrees with you as well, which is why I estimated this comes in around 13-18 (their scoring is very top-heavy).

I guess I should specify that I mean "top to bottom" lol. Or maybe "best overall average" of all time. And I'll also say that I also think there's still time to find a CC-caliber player for 2025 or 2026 (Deal? Speiser? Greenway?) and if we get her, she'll need a class like this around her to take her where she wants to go.

I'm cautiously optimistic our Class of 2025 should be more impressive than 2024...

I agree.

And for what it's worth, the 2024 class is going to have to do extremely well to beat the 2015 class (Megan Gustafson, Tania Davis, Hannah Stewart) or the 2016 class (Kathleen Doyle, Makenzie Meyer, Amanda Ollinger).

Also should specify that I mean this is just based on HS evaluation. We of course won't know Bluder's best recruiting class of all time, inclusive of their entire career at Iowa -- until after she retires

One other thing....do we think Bluder won that fierce recruiting battle with Amy Williams she mentioned?? 🤔🤔

 

[BraydonRoberts5]

Have to disagree. The 2020 class is Bluder’s best class. WBB is overwhelmingly about elite quality. Players in the bottom half of the top 100 are rarely the type of player that can lead a team to the Final Four. You need the elite star or superstar. Even if Ava Heiden stays near the bottom of the top 40, I’d take 1 top 5 player over the ‘24 class.

I agree.

And for what it's worth, the 2024 class is going to have to do extremely well to beat the 2015 class (Megan Gustafson, Tania Davis, Hannah Stewart) or the 2016 class (Kathleen Doyle, Makenzie Meyer, Amanda Ollinger).

 

[BraydonRoberts5]

I understand your POV, and ESPN agrees with you as well, which is why I estimated this comes in around 13-18 (their scoring is very top-heavy).

I guess I should specify that I mean "top to bottom" lol. Or maybe "best overall average" of all time. And I'll also say that I also think there's still time to find a CC-caliber player for 2025 or 2026 (Deal? Speiser? Greenway?) and if we get her, she'll need a class like this around her to take her where she wants to go.

I'm cautiously optimistic our Class of 2025 should be more impressive than 2024...

The guard talent Iowa has a reasonable link to in 2025 and 2026 is crazy:

2025
Divine Bourrage (ESPN #9)
Addison Deal (#12)
Jordan Spieser (#19)
Journey Houston (#35) already committed

2026
Addison Bjorn (#8)
Maddyn Greenway (#16)
Jenica Lewis (#23)

Combine a few of those players in either class and on paper it would be the best class Iowa has ever had.

 

[AMAYS]

. . . And for what it's worth, the 2024 class is going to have to do extremely well to beat the 2015 class (Megan Gustafson, Tania Davis, Hannah Stewart) or the 2016 class (Kathleen Doyle, Makenzie Meyer, Amanda Ollinger).

Speaking of Doyle and Gustafson, Doyle was ranked # 20 in the country by Blue Star, which, along with All Star Girls Report, predated HoopGurlz. So at least part of the recruiting industry placed Doyle in elite company. But no one in the recruiting industry put Gustafson in elite company, which makes her ultimate POY status all the more remarkable. Going back to the high school class of 2000, every player to win a POY award was ranked in the top 25 by Blue Star, ASGR or HoopGurlz, or a McDonald’s AA, except Gustafson.

 

[kceasthawk]

But that's a lot of point gaurds... plus looking at Greenway... gonna need some more wings I would think

Yep. As the article on the front page alluded to. they have themselves a little boxed in with a whole lot of girls who could only be 1's and 2's and only one 3 and a center after next year. Hard to see where MG or any other guards their recruiting would fit, not to mention the frontcourt looks really sparse after next season.

 

[kceasthawk]

The guard talent Iowa has a reasonable link to in 2025 and 2026 is crazy:

2025
Divine Bourrage (ESPN #9)
Addison Deal (#12)
Jordan Spieser (#19)
Journey Houston (#35) already committed

2026
Addison Bjorn (#8)
Maddyn Greenway (#16)
Jenica Lewis (#23)

Combine a few of those players in either class and on paper it would be the best class Iowa has ever had.

Given the makeup of the roster how many more guards can they take when they have almost no front court players after next season? Heiden, and Mallagani,(sp) If Jones can play god willing, (but questionable) and thats it. Seems hard to believe they would be able to keep recruiting many more guards.

 

[Torg]

View embedded media

I love this class but 18 of the top 40 on hoopgurlz have not chosen a school yet

 

[Bro D]

I would be very surprised. Like I said, I was told she is waiting on North Carolina.

*LSU

 

[Hawkhoops3]

I understand your POV, and ESPN agrees with you as well, which is why I estimated this comes in around 13-18 (their scoring is very top-heavy).

I guess I should specify that I mean "top to bottom" lol. Or maybe "best overall average" of all time. And I'll also say that I also think there's still time to find a CC-caliber player for 2025 or 2026 (Deal? Speiser? Greenway?) and if we get her, she'll need a class like this around her to take her where she wants to go.

I'm cautiously optimistic our Class of 2025 should be more impressive than 2024...



Also should specify that I mean this is just base on HS evaluation. We of course won't know Bluder's best recruiting class of all time, inclusive of their entire career at Iowa -- until after she retires

One other thing....do we think Bluder won that fierce recruiting battle with Amy Williams?? 🤔🤔

I think they won it over Illinois. Nebraska still has Prince coming, in all probability, and there's no need for both. Which begs the question - did we just take 3 point guards in 1 class, 1 year after taking another point guard?

 

[Franisdaman]

Fabulous

What was she ranked again?

Future continues to look bright

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

I think they won it over Illinois. Nebraska still has Prince coming, in all probability, and there's no need for both. Which begs the question - did we just take 3 point guards in 1 class, 1 year after taking another point guard?

I don’t think Bluder sees Levin or Stremlow playing PG.

 

[fish1hawk]

Just me but the overall development of our girls from jr high thru high school and then AAU have raised the bar of top 50 or even top 100 over the last 10 to 15 years. There are clear studs but the depth is higher

 

[Hawkhoops3]

I don’t think Bluder sees Levin or Stremlow playing PG.

Wisconsin high school stats are hard to find. I watched Stremlow play with her summer team (Wisc Flight) this summer, and she was the point guard, but could move off in college, certainly. she is also bigger, so possible she could play the 3, but seems to like the ball in her hands. Levin is a career 33% 3 pt shooter in a lower class in Iowa, including 31% last year.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Wisconsin high school stats are hard to find. I watched Stremlow play with her summer team (Wisc Flight) this summer, and she was the point guard, but could move off in college, certainly. she is also bigger, so possible she could play the 3, but seems to like the ball in her hands. Levin is a career 33% 3 pt shooter in a lower class in Iowa, including 31% last year.

Sorry I guess I should say I don’t think Bluder sees Stremlow as a PG or Levin as a starting PG. Regardless of position, I would guess Levin’s role will be a reserve (same with KJE).

 

[MitchLL]

Watched '26 Jenica Lewis play on Sunday as she plays in the same summer league in Dez Monez as my granddaughter.

Solid physical build at 5'9" or so. Another pretty decent sophomore is Jayla Williams, 5'9"/5'10" or so, from Ankeny. Don't know if she has been discussed here?

 

[BraydonRoberts5]

I think they won it over Illinois. Nebraska still has Prince coming, in all probability, and there's no need for both. Which begs the question - did we just take 3 point guards in 1 class, 1 year after taking another point guard?

Yes with the caveat that the PGs can probably play the 2 as well.

I think the coaches really love Guyton. They went all in for her recently and if you just look at the roster construction alone the move doesn't make a ton of sense.

 

[MitchLL]

I may be WAY off base here, but does it look like Greenway might be less of a priority?

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Yes with the caveat that the PGs can probably play the 2 as well.

I think the coaches really love Guyton. They went all in for her recently and if you just look at the roster construction alone the move doesn't make a ton of sense.

This is why I was also all in on Guyton. My guess is Bluder sees her as a clear upgrade over our other ‘23/‘24 Gs.

Worth the possibility of having one less roster spot in 2025 as well as — potentially — precluding CC22 from taking a COVID year.

 

[BraydonRoberts5]

Wisconsin high school stats are hard to find. I watched Stremlow play with her summer team (Wisc Flight) this summer, and she was the point guard, but could move off in college, certainly. she is also bigger, so possible she could play the 3, but seems to like the ball in her hands. Levin is a career 33% 3 pt shooter in a lower class in Iowa, including 31% last year.

It's worth mentioning high school 3 point percentages aren't always representative. Here's Warnock as an example:

High School
Freshman: 39%
Sophomore: 21%
Junior: 27.6%
Senior: 39.0%

College
Freshman: 43.9%
Sophomore: 45.1%
Junior: 40.4%
Senior: 38.4%

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

The guard talent Iowa has a reasonable link to in 2025 and 2026 is crazy:

2025
Divine Bourrage (ESPN #9)
Addison Deal (#12)
Jordan Spieser (#19)
Journey Houston (#35) already committed

2026
Addison Bjorn (#8)
Maddyn Greenway (#16)
Jenica Lewis (#23)

Combine a few of those players in either class and on paper it would be the best class Iowa has ever had.

As in...........National Championship?

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

I may be WAY off base here, but does it look like Greenway might be less of a priority?

As in they're cooling off on her?

 

[AMAYS]

Just me but the overall development of our girls from jr high thru high school and then AAU have raised the bar of top 50 or even top 100 over the last 10 to 15 years. There are clear studs but the depth is higher

I understand the logic of where you are coming from, but sometimes think something like the opposite is true. What I mean is that the flourishing of AAU and increased number of USA Basketball tryouts/workouts make it easier to reliably identify the top 25-40 players, such that the demarcation between the elite group and the rest is clearer. Earlier female maturation also aids in reliable early identification of elite players. Along these lines, Prospects Nation decided a few years ago to stop ranking players beyond the top 25, and only list the next 125 as being in the top 150. For commercial reasons, they later reversed course, but their earlier judgment is interesting.

The result of the AAU-driven identification and demarcation means far fewer diamonds in the rough, especially in the guard court where growing into your body is less an issue. It's been a long time since there was a Lindsay Whalen, meaning an unranked American guard who turned into a superstar All American. Instead, in recent years, All American teams and the WNBA are overwhelmingly dominated by top 40 and higher-ranked high school players. For these reasons, I think top-100 comparisons like the below tweet are misleading.



No elite WBB coach would take Iowa's class over the 2-player classes at UCONN, Michigan or UCLA, or Texas (which Linder missed). I would gladly trade Iowa's 3 commits ranked between 50-100 (and likely Iowa's entire class) for Allie Ziebell, who had an early Iowa offer before committing to UCONN. WBB is overwhelmingly about elite quality, and the pool of elite quality is much smaller than the top 100.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

You make many good points as always @AMAYS but I do think it’s also fair to point out that the dispersion of elite talent has become less and less concentrated from just a few years ago (thanks for transfer portal, coaching turnover, and talent like CC22 / Juji Watkins / etc opting for non-blueblood schools) and that has allowed some coaches / styles / programs to grasp some air that was formerly reserved for 8-10 select programs.

Clearly there’s a long way to go with regards to who wins the NC / advances to the FF but at the very least I believe the days of UConn, Stanford, Baylor/LSU dominating everyone season in and season out are likely gone (sorry to the crowd, I just don’t believe the LSU super team hype). This vacuum has allowed the likes of Iowa, Indiana, VA Tech to shine. SC, Oregon, Maryland are great examples (to varying degrees) of how there’s no guarantee you’ll stay at the top once you’ve arrived.

Of course the flipside is that while it’s now a whole a lot easier to make the Elite 8 than it was 10 years ago, there are many teams competing with us to be the next destination program. I’d say the newly expanded B1G has 5-6 schools in the running for a spot along the elite. We may be leading the pack ATM but not necessarily positioned to break away just yet. The logjam for spots 4-10 may never break tbh and maybe that’s a good thing.

 

[AMAYS]

You make many good points as always @AMAYS but I do think it’s also fair to point out that the dispersion of elite talent has become less and less concentrated from just a few years ago (thanks for transfer portal, coaching turnover, and talent like CC22 / Juji Watkins / etc opting for non-blueblood schools) and that has allowed some coaches / styles / programs to grasp some air that was formerly reserved for 8-10 select programs.

Clearly there’s a long way to go with regards to who wins the NC / advances to the FF but at the very least I believe the days of UConn, Stanford, Baylor/LSU dominating everyone season in and season out are likely gone (sorry to the crowd, I just don’t believe the LSU super team hype). This vacuum has allowed the likes of Iowa, Indiana, VA Tech to shine. SC, Oregon, Maryland are great examples (to varying degrees) of how there’s no guarantee you’ll stay at the top once you’ve arrived.

Of course the flipside is that while it’s now a whole a lot easier to make the Elite 8 than it was 10 years ago, there are many teams competing with us to be the next destination program. I’d say the newly expanded B1G has 5-6 schools in the running for a spot along the elite. We may be leading the pack ATM but not necessarily positioned to break away just yet. The logjam for spots 4-10 may never break tbh and maybe that’s a good thing.

I hope you're right, but I am skeptical. We've been here before:

"The 1993 NCAA Final Four marks a changing of the guard in women's college basketball. All four teams competing in the semifinals Saturday at the Omni in Atlanta _ Iowa, Ohio State, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt _ are first-time participants.

"The door has swung wide open," Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster said. "I think this is more a reflection that the game is starting to grow. A lot of teams out there are looking at this situation and realizing you don't have to be one of the traditional powers to get to the Final Four."

This year marks only the third time in the tournament's 12-year history that neither Tennessee nor Louisiana Tech advanced to the Final Four. Both lost in the region finals.

. . . The Final Four is sold out for only the second time in tournament history. The only previous sellout came in 1990, when 19,467 saw the semifinals and 20,023 the final at the University of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena. The 1993 tournament already has set an overall attendance mark at 199,085, not including this weekend's sales."

No familiar faces

The 1993 NCAA Final Four marks a changing of the guard in women's college basketball. All four teams competing in the semifinals Saturday at the Omni in Atlanta _ Iowa, Ohio State, Texas Tech...

www.tampabay.com

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

I hope you're right, but I am skeptical. We've been here before:

Lol!! Haha again good points all around

 

[kceasthawk]

I may be WAY off base here, but does it look like Greenway might be less of a priority?

As I said, I'm not sure if they can even afford to take her at this point. By 26 Hannah and Jenna will be gone also and all the bigs currently on the roster. At this point that leaves us with Mallegni, a 3/4, and Heiden in the post, and thats it at this point with an abundance of guards. Jones still being up in the air at this point. This next class will need to be majorly focused on front court players, several who will need to play right away.

 

[kceasthawk]

As in they're cooling off on her?

I would say no, but they have to bring in some wings and bigs in that class, or we're going to be in trouble on the boards and defense both in conference play and the tourneys

 

[MitchLL]

As in they're cooling off on her?

Not necessarily, just seem to be recruiting guard heavy to this point.
Or going to be heavy into the portal to fill holes.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

I would say no, but they have to bring in some wings and bigs in that class, or we're going to be in trouble on the boards and defense both in conference play and the tourneys

Transfer portal.

 

[kceasthawk]

Transfer portal.

Pretty hit and miss proposition there.......

 

[LinusPF]

Transfer portal.

This.

And transfer portal what it is, chances are we eventually won't have the predicted glut of Top 100 guards on the roster. It's just so easy to transfer, for any reason, I wouldn't be surprised if less than half the '24 class is here in '28.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

Y’all are acting like we’re Maryland or something. If you think Bluder is going to say No Thanks to a Top 20/30 kid like Greenway (or any of the options for 2025) with offers from most everyone in the Top 25, you’re trippin. It may be that our 2024 class is mostly a class of reserve Gs. It’d be a pretty solid bench if that’s the case.

Depth is a good thing — all elite programs have it and it’s the only reason we lost to UConn IMO — and if anyone can handle retention it’s Bluder. 1 outbound transfer this year, 0 last year, 2 the year before. Pretty impressive record for two years in which the starting 5 were locked in and 3/5 were set the following year.

I think our biggest transfer threat after Edigar is KJE who will likely be stuck as Clark -> Guyton’s back up her whole time as a hawk. Outside those two, basically all the remaining players have paths to playing time by ‘24-‘25 and all of our wing players seem like really good friends. Feuerbach, Affolter, McCabe, Gyamfi are always posting things on social together along with our current 3 starting Gs. Bluder didn’t hesitate to sign Clark after signing Marshall, Martin, Warnock, Jensen, and Meyer. She won’t hesitate to sign Speiser, Lewis, etc either.

Also ICYMI Bluder usually plays a G at the 4. She typically has a guard heavy roster with multiple multiple ball handlers. Warnock was recruited as a G and there’s a reason there is chatter about Mallegni (also a G) becoming the next Warnock. She doesn’t like to play 2 bigs at once and she won’t have to. I assume a lot of offense for ‘24-‘25 and beyond will go thru Heiden.

Another C will of course be sought for ‘25 or ‘26 but I wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining commits are more in the mold of Warnock / Martin / Stuelke than Czinano / Gustafson.

 

[creslin_hawk]

I think we have one more year of covid elligble players leveling the field. A big part of iowa getting there was having the same starters for 3 years (monica would have been gone). After that we shall see if the top teams take over again. I also think that with the portal and NIL its much more likely that players transfer out, so oversubscribing to top talent (within reason) is less likely to cause an issue.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Y’all are acting like we’re Maryland or something. If you think Bluder is going to say No Thanks to a Top 20/30 kid like Greenway (or any of the options for 2025) with offers from most everyone in the Top 25, you’re trippin. It may be that our 2024 class is mostly a class of reserve Gs. It’d be a pretty solid bench if that’s the case.

Depth is a good thing — all elite programs have it and it’s the only reason we lost to UConn IMO — and if anyone can handle retention it’s Bluder. 1 outbound transfer this year, 0 last year, 2 the year before. Pretty impressive record for two years in which the starting 5 were locked in and 3/5 were set the following year.

I think our biggest transfer threat after Edigar is KJE who will likely be stuck as Clark -> Guyton’s back up her whole time as a hawk. Outside those two, basically all the remaining players have paths to playing time by ‘24-‘25 and all of our wing players seem like really good friends. Feuerbach, Affolter, McCabe, Gyamfi are always posting things on social together along with our current 3 starting Gs. Bluder didn’t hesitate to sign Clark after signing Marshall, Martin, Warnock, Jensen, and Meyer. She won’t hesitate to sign Speiser, Lewis, etc either.

Also ICYMI Bluder usually plays a G at the 4. She typically has a guard heavy roster with multiple multiple ball handlers. Warnock was recruited as a G and there’s a reason there is chatter about Mallegni (also a G) becoming the next Warnock. She doesn’t like to play 2 bigs at once and she won’t have to. I assume a lot of offense for ‘24-‘25 and beyond will go thru Heiden.

Another C will of course be sought for ‘25 or ‘26 but I wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining commits are more in the mold of Warnock / Martin / Stuelke than Czinano / Gustafson.

The only reason we'd cool on Greenway is if she has expressed more interest in other schools.


(or if she is just getting overshadowed by other guards we're getting interest from in the travel ball circuit, but that's pure speculation.........unless you actually follow that stuff)

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

 

[ft254]

It takes size as we found out in the Final 4. And depth in the front line. We were beaten down by LSU's length, and its water over the dam, but shitty officiating effecting players crucial to Iowa's ability to compete with their length.

The Hawks are a mobile, running team. Defensively we have been without a rim protecter and have relied on quickness and athleticism for rebounding and stops. It's been a solid recipe fueling dynamic fastbreaks with Clark ripping full length passes or pulling up for her patented logo 3s.

Hybrid athletic 2-stretch/3/4s with speed and ball handling ability with rebounding size, like hopefully Hannah and Jada and others progress into. I think this is where development will be concentrated in women's basketball. Still, basketball is ultimately played at the rim and length matters. We can compete in the B1G with talent and athleticism. but Iowa needs centers in the 2025/26 class and thereafter to be competitive at the elite level, which we now have a flavor for.

 

[anon_salmfilsntd0b]

I’m sure Bluder will sign a C for ‘25 or ‘26, or both. I doubt she will sign anymore than two for those classes combined.

 

[ft254]

I’m sure Bluder will sign a C for ‘25 or ‘26, or both. I doubt she will sign anymore than two for those classes combined.

Of course. The roster can only so many. I'm talking perpetual recruiting to include the center position.

 

[ZachJump]

Of course. The roster can only so many. I'm talking perpetual recruiting to include the center position.

I agree...its very obvious that the center position has bern ignored far to long. Just one recent Niasmith from a center and only 7 consecutive years with an All Big Ten first team center.

 

[onionman1]

I agree...its very obvious that the center position has bern ignored far to long. Just one recent Niasmith from a center and only 7 consecutive years with an All Big Ten first team center.

The aforementioned Naismith winner wasn't athletic enough to make any impact in the WNBA, and the All-conference center likely will meet the same fate. It's the elite athletic center- the extremely tall, big-bodied, athletes, that make the difference in the NCAA's in an average year. Iowa needs to make it a priority (not that they haven't already - I don't know) on the recruiting trail to ensure there's always one in the rotation. Problem is, the top programs also know this, and there are only so many of these players available each year.