Originally posted by Tiggerhawk:
Originally posted by cyberhawk:
Currently there are already 15 commited scholarship players for the fall of 2016. Of course things could change.
Here is an article about Robbi Ryan who is a 2016 guard from Sheridan WY and has Iowa on her short list and plans to begin campus visits next month. In it she is compared to 2014 PAC12 FOY Kelsey Plum and also another player by the name of Samantha Logic. (However, as I said, Iowa would not be able to give her a scholarship unless they lose someone before the fall signing period.)
This post was edited on 3/16 11:44 AM by cyberhawk
As of now, there are 14 women on who have signed or committed: Next year, Pesch & Till complete their eligibility, which leaves two current sophomores, Disterhoft & Kastanek, and the four 3014-15 freshmen--Coley, Moens, Buttenham, & Jennings. Add the four women who signed LOIs last November--C/PF Gustafson (WI), PF Larson (SD), SF Stewart (ND) & PG Tania Davis (MI)--and you have ten returning. There are at present FOUR commitments from HS juniors---PG Sevillian (MI), Wings Cera (WI) & Meyer (IA), and F Ollnger (IA). T'here is a distinct possibility that all four HS seniors will be the POY/Miss Basketball of their states. All but Larson (who missed much of her HS career due to injury) have been named among the top 100 players in their class That very likely could be 8 of 9 if Bluder gets a commitment from PG Robbi Ryan (Cheyenne, WY), or C/PF Jennie Boehm (New Trier, Winnetka, IL), or either of the two inside players from Twin Cities suburbs, all four of the possibilities being top 100 prospects nationally as HS juniors.
There is some confusion about the number of schollies already determined, because Bluder has used one of the several open scholarships last year & this year to reward walk-on sophomore PF Schnaden. Unless, as as unexpected development, Bluder finds a ideal transfer to come in & provide more strength & depth as an experienced post or power forward for the coming season, Bluder is likely to extend the schollie to Snaden for another year. What she is NOT likely to do is give Schnaden a full ride for a 4th year; that might happen if she is unable to get a commitment from one of the four mentioned above or some other top prospect who emerges as an outstanding candidate over the summer.
Personally, I hope the 5th commitment is from Robbi Ryan, who is constantly being compared to Sam Logic for her toughness, her endless energy & determination, aggressive play, strong rebounding, defensive ardor, etc. Plus another impressive quality beyond Sam's package, which is that she defines the cliche "jumps out of the barn". While I doubt she will prove to be 75% of Logic's game, that would still be as much as any PG at Iowa other than Sam since Michelle Edwards
(this from someone who still loves Crystal Smith as an alltime Hawkeye favorite)..
This 5th schollie is a crucial consideration: Bluder will only have two open the next year (Disterhoft & Kastenak leaving), and that year & the next two are deep in talent in the Hawkeye recruiting area, especially in Iowa where there may be the most talent ever---figure two girls from the Eastern Iowa AAU team, freshman Ashley Joens of Iowa City High and the sixfoot plus 8th grade ballnhandling wizard from Moline, are the top priorities of the players targeted by Bluder.
This is the paradox resulting from a rising program: the irony of becoming a top ten or so program nationally is that she will now have to recruit against Notre Dame, Tennessee, Duke, Stanford, more against Maryland & Rutgers & Penn State. It will no longer be a matter of getting girls from Minnesota away the Gophers, or Iowans from Moo U, or the best players out of Wisconsin, or holding our own with Mich State, Ohio State & Purdue for the 2nd tier in the Midwest. It is going to require making Iowa City the destination for many of those Midwesterners who have chosen Tennessee, Notre Dame, Stanford, etc in the past. No future Tiah Stokes is going to turn down a quality school in a high quality of life locale for a mediocre school in a vcity-dump a thousand miles away for only one compelling reason---the national stage in women's hoops.But Bluder's bigger challenge in the years ahead my be to sell U of Iowa academics in competion with Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame.
There are so many, many things in college athletics easier than winning the right way