Van Lith to...
- Thread starter LarryMullenJr.
- Start date
This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. TCU's coach Campbell is the former Asst Coach at Oregon, who were basically Iowa before Iowa (well actually, a lot more talented than Iowa overall and it's not particularly close). He was an ELITE recuiter and an ELITE guard developer. He recruited Sabrina Ionescu, Sedona Prince, Satou Sabally, Sydney Parrish, Taylor Mikesell, Maddie Scheer, Tahina Paopao, Jaz Shelley, and numerous other highly talented players. He then left Oregon and it completely fell apart and they had about as bad of a season as possible. It's an open secret that OR's actual HC is a total asshole and his players hate him. They have literally lost 20+ McDonald's All Americans the past 3-4 years to the portal. Entire recruiting classes.
Campbell's first season at TCU started out really strong, they even entered the Top 25, but then basically his whole team got injured and they had to forfeit some games b/c they didn't have enough players to field a team. He has been recruiting well and they will be a Top 25 team again next year. He has been bringing back many former Oregon players like Prince and Scherr, who just committed to them today. Prince is coming back for a 6th year (she retired from WBB out of OR, but came back to play for him at TCU last year and said Campbell is the only person she'd do that for).
Takes like these show me that so many Iowa fans REALLY need to start paying attention to WBB outside of Iowa games. Also, PLEASE stop sucking HVL's dick lmao. I'm beyond tired of reading about her on this board. She was NOT a good fit for Iowa. Iowa was NOT a good fit for her. There are SO MANY REASONS why and people need to stop acting like that was ever a real possibility OR a good idea. If you truly believe that Bluder would ever consider her or that she would ever consider Iowa, you NEED to watch more WBB and learn more about both our program and others.
HVL isn't even that good! She was one of the most overrated HS prospects of the past 5 years -- she benefited greatly from being friends with Kobe and having a trendy Instagram account lol. Her stats these past few years are all you need to look at to understand that.
Their head coach was her former Assistant Coach at Louisville. Really not surprising she was considering them. He is also a very good recruiter.
Campbell's first season at TCU started out really strong, they even entered the Top 25, but then basically his whole team got injured and they had to forfeit some games b/c they didn't have enough players to field a team. He has been recruiting well and they will be a Top 25 team again next year. He has been bringing back many former Oregon players like Prince and Scherr, who just committed to them today. Prince is coming back for a 6th year (she retired from WBB out of OR, but came back to play for him at TCU last year and said Campbell is the only person she'd do that for).
Takes like these show me that so many Iowa fans REALLY need to start paying attention to WBB outside of Iowa games. Also, PLEASE stop sucking HVL's dick lmao. I'm beyond tired of reading about her on this board. She was NOT a good fit for Iowa. Iowa was NOT a good fit for her. There are SO MANY REASONS why and people need to stop acting like that was ever a real possibility OR a good idea. If you truly believe that Bluder would ever consider her or that she would ever consider Iowa, you NEED to watch more WBB and learn more about both our program and others.
HVL isn't even that good! She was one of the most overrated HS prospects of the past 5 years -- she benefited greatly from being friends with Kobe and having a trendy Instagram account lol. Her stats these past few years are all you need to look at to understand that.
Their head coach was her former Assistant Coach at Louisville. Really not surprising she was considering them. He is also a very good recruiter.
Last edited:
I don't have any major feelings for her coming/not coming to Iowa. I agree: I don't think she was a good fit for either side. Solid player, but just doesn't fit in. I just pointed it out because of her role she played in our last two seasons.
Don't really have a problem with her (he dad seems like a total d-bag) but just pointed it out.
HVL had become irrelevant.
But maybe going to a weaker conference helps her?
But maybe going to a weaker conference helps her?
Last edited:
Glad to hear this! Sorry to be a dick (totally my bad). I was still seeing people on Twitter saying she needs to come to Iowa YESTERDAY (and like I said, I've seen that same take WAY too many times on here)!
She will do much better at TCU and than she did at LSU.
Last edited:
I was hoping we would land her but that ended when we got Lucy. Worked out even better than expected.
I do think HVL will bounce back and have a great year. She was not a fit at LSU and playing out of position.
I do think HVL will bounce back and have a great year. She was not a fit at LSU and playing out of position.
All good on my side—like Iowa football: no offense taken.
HVL isn't that good, and she would never fit at Iowa. TCU or whoever can have her. Lisa knows what she's doing, in case some folks haven't noticed.
You must have missed her play at Louisville. She was fantastic. She had to play point guard at LSU and she's a shooting guard.HVL isn't that good, and she would never fit at Iowa. TCU or whoever can have her. Lisa knows what she's doing, in case some folks haven't noticed.
She would have fit fine at Iowa but we needed a PG so I'm thrilled we got Lucy.
Her stats. Her defense. Her size. She was seriously overrated out of HS. She is an excellent shooter, especially in the mid range.
I have to be honest. I didn't watch her at Louisville much. I watched LSU this year quite a few times. She looked really bad every time I watched. Could be she wasn't used correctly or her and Mulkey had issues. IDK. But she looked slow, overweight, and not giving much on offense.
She was playing out of position at LSU. She is a SG. She wanted to become a PG to increase her draft prospects. That was a spectacular failure. She is gonna go back to the SG at TCU. Her new coach is an elite guard developer.
Another reason she became so highly sought after was that the portal last year was really not good overall. She looked great by comparison. She came from a system where she fit perfectly and was the star player. Clearly that doesn’t always translate to a new system.
Mock drafts early this year had her in the top 5 so there’s that. Being out of position can make most anyone look bad.
I think she could work well as an off guard for Iowa, but I don't see any indication of interest by either party....
Don’t forget that with Haley you get her dad and all that he brings.Coach Bluder does not want bat shit crazy and disruption.This thought came from Captain Obvious.
Man some of you are obsessed w/her coming to Iowa. We got our point guard and we're done at this point. Her experiment at pt guard was a flop.
I was unaware that she had a crazy parent. Blech, yeah, I wouldn't want to deal with that either if I were the coach.
I said it before, she's going to Iowa State. Papa Joens and Papa Van Lith...
I'm hoping she bounces back and has a good year. Seems like the new coach at Tennessee is adding some pieces out of the portal to compete.
It’s bc they don’t watch wbb outside Iowa. They see a white girl who can shoot and think “she’d be great fit!” It’s a good litmus test IMO of whether ppl know anything about other programs (or ours for that matter) lol
Last edited:
Actually it's because many here see her as an off guard,.. Her natural position pre-LSU, and a position of need for Iowa...
HVL going to Iowa would be like Bill Laimbeer going to the Bulls. At a certain point it just doesn't work.
Lol....quite the assumption you're making about other people.
Iowa does not need a SG. We have Affolter, McCabe and Feuerbach returning, and Mallegni coming in with a better offer list than any of them. The only position we actually need(ed) is a PG and we got that. Another SG would be nice, but so would another C. We have multiple options at both those positions tho.
Van Lith has shown to be a better player than all 3 of those so far. Affolter could play SF if we had HVL.
McCabe may prove to be a great player but hasn't had the opportunity yet. Feuerbach is a solid role player but isn't going to be elite.
Point being, if the NIL money was there, the scholly was available, and HVL wanted to come to Iowa, it would be dumb not to want her.
I prefer the upside of players already on the team. I just can't recall ever being impressed by HVL's game. Perhaps it's there somewhere, but the trade off in talent just isn't enough to recruit over other players.
The other aspect, as far as Iowa is concerned, is that if they wish to maintain the guard heavy style of play, they need the 2,3,4 to have some rebound height at those positions.
I get that a lot of people think this mercenary portal roster building is the way to go, but Iowa is finally positioned to recruit great players, and to start chipping at the balance of that before it takes hold is just a bad, bad decision. Be patient. The roster has potential for greatness in a few years.
The other aspect, as far as Iowa is concerned, is that if they wish to maintain the guard heavy style of play, they need the 2,3,4 to have some rebound height at those positions.
I get that a lot of people think this mercenary portal roster building is the way to go, but Iowa is finally positioned to recruit great players, and to start chipping at the balance of that before it takes hold is just a bad, bad decision. Be patient. The roster has potential for greatness in a few years.
I understand the argument of going with the current players but the roster is young so having a 1 year player to come in and contribute, to me, would be the perfect fit. HVL was very good at Louisville and helped them make a run to the Final Four. Averaged 20 points a game. Additionally, she averaged about 5 rebounds per game at Louisville so the girl, while not being tall can definitely rebound.
Like it or not, the portal is here and other teams are making great use of it. Can you build a roster without using the portal? Possibly. But, you have to keep up with the Joneses. That's the reason we plucked Lucy Olsen from the portal.
We did use the portal as you noted, picking up Olsen. Not every portal player is a great or even good fit. I saw no interest from either side here. Maybe it was the case of her just having a bad year playing out of position. We'll get a better idea next year. And if Guyton hadn't blown out her knee we might have just gone w/her next year and see what happened.
Again, you are banking a marginal bump in production will be more important than the balance, growth, and culture of the program. The next two recruiting classes will be the rewards of the Clark era. Those classes will stabilize the program consistency, and that consistency is what will bring in top classes going forward. It's just not the right time for Iowa to abandon that chasing blue bloods. Gotta be patient.
What's more, with better recruiting classes (including the incoming freshmen), you might see a greater impact from those younger players than we've had in the past. I'd guess at least two of those players play a significant role next season, and that's far more important to future success than any small bump coming from marginal portal players.
And Lucy Olsen is major need, and a next level player that is a perfect fit right now within that balance. Huge get for next year.
