Lisa may have to go back to a high- low post that she used with Megan and Hannah for this year. I think all Addison needs is more playing time.
**NEW** Iowa Women's Basketball Recruiting Thread
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Unless they commit to playing small all year (Martin, Affolter, etc. at the 4) I think that's pretty likely.
If they do use that offense, I would also expect O'Grady to fill the Coley/Stewart role (more time short corner or high post) with Stuelke in the Gustafson role.
What do you think are the chances of seeing either Edigar or Gyamfi at the 4 with Hannah at the 5?
How Bluder will play her bigs is the biggest question coming into the fall. A lot of it will depend on how they progress in the off-season, and I imagine we'll see some experimentation early in the year. What we're currently missing is Warnock's ability to stretch the floor. Can Addy step up to be a reliable 5? Will she be the one, in a high/low post game to develop that outside shot? Could we see AJ transform her body and game to be a quicker, stronger 4? Will Gyamfi develop into a more significant contributor? The Gulf Coast Showcase in late Nov. will probably demonstrate how the pieces finally fit.
Nice article, not sure we knew this but Heiden also had an offer from Michigan, where her mother was an athlete. Makes the get even more impressive.
In my head the most likely starting lineup right now has O'Grady as the 4 on offense with Stuelke at the 5. On defense, they switch and O'Grady plays the 5 with Stuelke at the 4.
I think Ediger or Gyamfi could be the backup 4 (and Ediger could also be the backup 5). I could also see the coaches going small at the 4 for backup minutes, so Martin or Affolter. I don't think we've seen enough of Ediger or Gyamfi at this point to say what their chances are of becoming a regular.
I am a fan of the Heiden commitment, but I am not sure that the following two sentences from this article actually say she had a Michigan offer:
"Top college programs offered scholarships. Iowa, Michigan, Utah and Oregon State stuck out to her."
BraydonRoberts5 wrote a month ago that "Ava Heiden held offers from Utah, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Washington, and Nebraska." No mention of Michigan.
When Heiden committed, the local area newspaper wrote:
"Prior to her commitment, Heiden took visits to the University of Portland and Gonzaga, along with the University of Utah. The big and athletic post also has ties to the Big 10, with both of parents having been athletes at the University of Michigan."
https://www.valleytimes.news/sports...cle_46d3be7c-9dc9-5af4-8024-8d2beef5de36.html
No mention was made of a Michigan scholarship offer.
When she committed to Iowa, the Gazette wrote: "A 6-foot-4 junior at Sherwood (Ore.) High School, Heiden selected the Hawkeyes over Nebraska, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State and Utah, among others." No mention was made of a Michigan offer, which is odd, if she had a Michigan offer. If I had to make a bet on whether she had a Michigan offer, I would not bet on Rob Howe.
The main reason I'm not too sure about this is that the 4 frequently cuts in our offense but the 5 never does. Stuelke's speed gives her the potential to be a fantastic cutter that was untapped last year. O'Grady at the 4 will never be a good cutter. Unless we're going to the triangle, which maybe we might 10-15 minutes per game or so, but not longer because it clogs the lane too much for Clark.
I'm optimistic O'Grady's post up game will improve enough over the summer that both O'Grady and Hannah will be able to play the 4 or 5 without much drop off between them. Can go which whatever based on matchups.
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Journey Houston with the game winner against Kia Nurse Elite
2026 prospect Addison Bjorn. Along with Greenway, one of the 22 finalists for the USA U16 team. Those two would make one heck of a class.
www.instagram.com
Marcus Walker on Instagram: "@addison_bjorn • 6’2 • 2026 ONE IS OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE 🇺🇸 REGARDLESS OF CLASS 💎🤩 Everybody help me wish my girl GOOD LUCK at the 🇺🇸 16U TRAILS. There’s not a doubt in my mind that you will make it. Stay focused. B
5,200 likes, 81 comments - Marcus Walker (@grindhousebasketball) on Instagram: "@addison_bjorn • 6’2 • 2026 ONE IS OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE 🇺🇸 REGARDLESS OF CLASS ..."
www.instagram.com
Jenica Lewis was among the original invitees for the U-16 team, but is not among the 22 finalists. Cut? Injured? Opt out?
Jody Hollins on Instagram: "6’4 @addi.ogrady inside outside player. Tall girls have skill sets too. Home so gotta stay sharp @iowawbb"
68 likes, 2 comments - byacoloradotrainerMay 23, 2023 on : "6’4 @addi.ogrady inside outside player. Tall girls have skill sets too. Home so gotta stay sharp @iowawbb"
www.instagram.com
I've seen a tweet from her saying "excited & honored to be invited". Guessing she didn't make the cut.
One word: "Fluid". Looks good to me.Jody Hollins on Instagram: "6’4 @addi.ogrady inside outside player. Tall girls have skill sets too. Home so gotta stay sharp @iowawbb"
68 likes, 2 comments - byacoloradotrainerMay 23, 2023 on : "6’4 @addi.ogrady inside outside player. Tall girls have skill sets too. Home so gotta stay sharp @iowawbb"
Anyone have a sense of whether Coach B is planning to fill that final 2024 roster spot? Is she waiting to see what Caitlin and/or Kylie will do? I see Amiah Hargrove (6'2" F) still hanging out there, just voted Illinois HS player of the year. And there are still many uncommitted top 50 players that Iowa has not offered. This is where that spot that Ava Jones is occupying becomes a real issue for the program to move forward. I honestly don't think that the Iowa staff has been aggressive enough in recruiting. This is a team that just played in the championship game, ranked #2 in the nation, and have a huge national profile, yet we're still pursuing lower-ranked local (midwest) recruits. By the way, where is Kyle Heusmann posting from these days?
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She was quoted in an article about the transfer portal that they may still go for a PG. She also mentioned on her podcast that she and UNL are likely going to be fiercely competing for a recruit. Most who have chimed in on this agree the only likely prospect that fits this bill is Britt Prince (top 20 recruit of Lincoln with offers from everyone). I think Hargrove would be an excellent addition but it sounds like Bluder has moved on.
Rly what happened is the 2024 class started filling up way before the spring and trended upwards in the process. Levin committed a year ago, Heiden in the fall. Then Stremlow (who seems a lot like Syd — ranked 60+ by Prospect Nation, decent offer list from schools around the country) and Mallegni (Top 60 kid with perhaps the best offer list we’ve seen since Clark, including Duke, Oregon, NC and Ohio State) came along and how can you say no to them?
And like that, we were basically full before May. It’s too bad Levin is likely to never get the exposure make the ESPN list (since she no longer plays for AIA) but I think it’s a good class all around. If Stremlow makes the ESPN Top 100, it should be a Top 20 ESPN class. If we land Prince, I’d say Top 10.
As others have said, I think ‘25 will be the first true test of whether we can capitalize off our NC run. It’s easy to forget that we likely have two years with Clark remaining and that means we should continue to enjoy some noteriety for at least two more off-seasons. With kids like Greenway, Houston, Lewis, Speiser and even Deal (who btw I noticed Liked a post by Levin the other day) still in the mix, I think we are in a good place.
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I have always like Addison's game. She is a solid rebounder, this year she will be much better with more playing time. I think her and Hannah on the inside give the team a better rebounding presence.
I should have an article or two on the 2025 class coming in the next few days. Overall, there is an intriguing blend of local talent, big West coast targets, and a couple other Midwest players that could be good.
Also my hope is to start class specific recruiting threads. I've enjoyed this thread, but it becomes hard to find any relevant information when we're digging through discussion of 3-4 different classes.
I would think Addie Deal is #1. Where Jordan Speiser, Taliyah Henderson, Journey Houston, Divine Bourrage, Avery Gordon, Alyssa Koerkenmeier, & others fall on their board would be interesting to know.
So this will be part of the article I mentioned, but I don't see that Iowa actually offered Henderson. She usually Tweets out her offers, and there wasn't one for Iowa. She's also received a ton of new offers in the past couple months. At this point, it seems far more likely that she commits elsewhere.
I meant how many total but the 1 open helps alot as I was not sure of what was left.
Women's basketball gets 15 scholarships. Iowa has 14 players on roster for 2023-2024 at the moment.
thank you. now my next question is why is who they have as the 15th player so important as yo it is?
don't recall any coach playing all 15 in a game. the only time that I can recall is during a blow out.
When the 15th scholarship opened up, most fans wanted Iowa to go get one of the impact transfers that could've come in and replaced Warnock or Czinano as a starter. Now that it looks like that won't happen, fans want Iowa to add an impact recruit like Prince to the 2024 class.
Getting the roster up to 15 is new for Coach Bluder. In the past she usually kept the roster at 12 or 13. Part of that was players taking the Covid year. Another part, I think, is injuries. There were times in 2021-2022 when Iowa only had the minimum available players due to short and long term injuries. That becomes unlikely when the roster is at 15.
Thought perhaps Speiser would be the first call. Lots of reciprocal interest in the Hawks it seems.
Sienna Betts came out with a top 11. Hawks did not make the cut. OSU and Michigan were the schools from the Big 10 that did. Probably not much of a surprise.
top 60 or better.
the best women will go where they can get the most money at LSU as that is already a proven fact.
It's not a surprise. The only chance we had to land Sienna is whether Lauren committed. At this point, even the most critical of the perception that Iowa is too white, too conservative as a state, too rural, older white coach, etc. have to acknowledge this. I've seen numerous posts from black people in the recruiting threads that consider Iowa a racist state; others say anti-LGBT, anti-education, etc. These young women are sensitive to those issues, and it's definitely showing up in our lack of success in the portal, and in recruiting. As much as I love Coach Bluder, I think we also have to consider that her recruiting has has consistently been 2nd-level. As far as I know, Caitlin has been her only top ten recruit, and that's largely because CC wanted to stay close to home.
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Sam Logic was top 10, She, Johanna Solverson and Lindsay Richards were McDonald's All-Americans. Of course they are all white.
I clearly agree Iowa has an image problem but I also think we have an opportunity to overcome it. If we’re successful enough, we can get over that hump. Another final four appearance and/or B1G title would go a long way. So would another signature win a la South Carolina.
The stars will have to continue to align but we are in an enviable position. We arrived on the scene 4 seasons ago now and have been trending upwards since, and our recruiting has ticked up as well, albeit subtly:
- In ‘19-‘20, we had 5 ESPN Top 100 kids.
- In ‘20-‘21, we had 3
- In ‘21-‘22, we had 5.
- In ‘22-‘23 and ‘23-24 we had/have 8.
- In ‘24-25, we’ll have at least 8 (more if Clark returns, Stremlow makes the cut or we land another recruit).
However I rly think we need to wait a year to evaluate how things are looking. Bluder has invested in a lot of kids in the ‘25 and ‘26 classes for awhile now and they’ve watched us win a lot of games on very big stages, and we’ll continue to be in the spotlight this season. The Final Four (and beating SC) rly were huge in that regard. They’re the kind of accomplishments that make real impacts on a program.
The COVID years rly kind of worked out well for us in that we can stagger the departures of the Fab Five. I think that will pay dividends in the W/L ratio in the long run, but it also clogs up the recruiting gears. Our class of ‘23 is tiny. Then our class of ‘24 filled out before May. It’s tough to expect an uptick in recruiting when you have 1 open spot. Our lack of outbound transfers on top of the COVID years kind of put a lid on our ceiling, recruiting wise.
No we haven’t become the new Maryland, but I think we are in spitting distance. Til then, I look forward to the next season. It’ll be refreshing to watch black Hawkeyes like Hannah and Jada excelling on and off the court. It will be very nice to see another black coach on the bench as well. Those things will make it harder for the haters to hate. We can also take comfort knowing that our NIL game is already a step ahead of many elite programs. But most of all, we just need to continue to win. If you win enough, people will respect you. And I think we will definitely get some big Ws this season. And the biggest star in WBB will continue to be our staunchest advocate and a solid ambassador.
The 2024 and 2025 rosters are only a couple of additions away from being formidable rotations. Our next star is certainly still needed… but that star could very well come in the class of 2025 (to buttress our solid class of 2024). Or hey, maybe it will be Hannah Stuelke
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what's up with Iowa needing more black players and now more black coaches.I clearly agree Iowa has an image problem but I also think we have an opportunity to overcome it. If we’re successful enough, we can get over that hump. Another final four appearance and/or B1G title would go a long way. So would another signature win a la South Carolina.
The stars will have to continue to align but we are in an enviable position. We arrived on the scene 4 seasons ago now and have been trending upwards since, and our recruiting has ticked up as well, albeit subtly:
The trend lines are undeniably going in the right direction. But they’re not going as fast as many of us would like either, esp when you see IU and Michigan grabbing up some Top 25 targets (tho in all fairness IU recruiting seems to have cooled a bit lately). There is clearly a gap between Top 20-25 talent and the rest, and that’s where we need to take the next step.
- In ‘19-‘20, we had 5 ESPN Top 100 kids.
- In ‘20-‘21, we had 3
- In ‘21-‘22, we had 5.
- In ‘22-‘23 and ‘23-24 we had/have 8.
- In ‘24-25, we’ll have at least 8 (more if Clark returns, Stremlow makes the cut or we land another recruit).
However I rly think we need to wait a year to evaluate how things are looking. Bluder has invested in a lot of kids in the ‘25 and ‘26 classes for awhile now and they’ve watched us win a lot of games on very big stages, and we’ll continue to be in the spotlight this season. The Final Four (and beating SC) rly were huge in that regard. They’re the kind of accomplishments that make real impacts on a program.
The COVID years rly kind of worked out well for us in that we can stagger the departures of the Fab Five. I think that will pay dividends in the W/L ratio in the long run, but it also clogs up the recruiting gears. Our class of ‘23 is tiny. Then our class of ‘24 filled out before May. It’s tough to expect an uptick in recruiting when you have 1 open spot. Our lack of outbound transfers on top of the COVID years kind of put a lid on our ceiling, recruiting wise.
No we haven’t become the new Maryland, but I think we are in spitting distance. Til then, I look forward to the next season. It’ll be refreshing to watch black Hawkeyes like Hannah and Jada excelling on and off the court. It will be very nice to see another black coach on the bench as well. Those things will make it harder for the haters to hate. We can also take comfort knowing that our NIL game is already a step ahead of many elite programs. But most of all, we just need to continue to win. If you win enough, people will respect you. And I think we will definitely get some big Ws this season. And the biggest star in WBB will continue to be our staunchest advocate and biggest ambassador.
The 2024 and 2025 rosters are only a couple of additions away from being solid rotations. Our next star is certainly still needed… but that star could very well come in the class of 2025 (to buttress our solid class of 2024). Or hey, maybe it will be Hannah Stuelke
Mulkey of LSU is white, take your bull shit elsewhere. black gotta get more blacks in here, the world is now being over taken where blacks are the only ones that count.
just like there was a song about short people having no reason to live. now there is a need for White people have no reason to live as the black people are now the superior race.
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