Why Don't the Stars Want to Play With Clark?
- Thread starter IowasLaw
- Start date
I'd like to offer another opinion to the OP's question. There are sports stars who value the spotlight more than being a part of a team-centered philosophy. They will turn away from college programs who espouse the "There is no 'I' in 'team'" theory. This is true of both the Iowa football and basketball programs. There are athletes who are unwilling to subscribe to that theory, and would never be a good fit at Iowa. It's best that they weed themselves out before they commit to be Hawkeyes.
It will be interesting to see how Kim Mulkey at LSU wrangles all of her spotlight-seekers next year.
It will be interesting to see how Kim Mulkey at LSU wrangles all of her spotlight-seekers next year.
If two investigations finding racial bias, dozens of player testimonies, a $4.2 million settlement, and the PR nightmare each caused leave you asking "anything else?" as far as why Iowa might be having problems attracting non white athletes then you can waste someone else's time! I try not to waste my time with the board's most delusional cultists! Please go back to the fb board, isn't being a laughingstock on one board enough for you?!
(am I doing this ridiculous overuse of exclamations right?)!
I’m not, but yes you indeed are. You’re not particularly well liked, period…I read what people say to you. Your not a pleasant person…
PS…. And yet you’re wasting your time now. And you’ve never been very good at this debate or insult thing.
PPS…. Calling someone a Cultist is a kin to accusing someone of being a Nazi or a fascist. It has no weight & very little meaning because anybody who doesn’t agree with your position throws it around without thought.
There’s your education for the night !
Do better next time!
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
How do you know the offers was rescinded? We all know she chose ND first but this rescinding is certainly a new development. Please provide more info.
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Asking elite talent to play with a phenom like Clark is asking a lot. Iowa has chemistry in the backcourt and that is not an automatic. You see the guards defer to Caitlin. Kate is a natural point guard, and it's not easy to surrender that task. If you recruit high profile, high octane point guards the magic could go away instantly. Competition for possessions is something Bluder has not had to deal with.
Clark is the operator, and her ability to facilitate the offense ensures player's acceptance of her role. She puts the ball in the hands of players to score and by doing so they are rewarded. It's a perfect scenario. Her incredible ability to find seams and time passes are unique (as opposing coaches lament) and her partner players continue to develop and progress their footwork, timing and strength.
Clark will move on someday. We may not see the logo 3s again but point guard/post play will always be around. In all likelihood we won't see a passing talent like Caitlin again either. But even so, Clark has raised the bar and showed a point guard with exceptional talent and ability can control an offense while making teammates happy.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
The fact that no one even called Iowa back — not “they got a better offer” — speaks volumes. From now on if anyone tries to argue that we don’t have serious image problems, I’m just going to quote this. Most elite kids (esp from outside the Midwest) do not want to play for Iowa, likely for a variety of reasons.
It’s a bummer but honestly there’s no better remedy than success. If we can continue to be successful the next two seasons, things should improve. New kids who haven’t been conditioned to disregard Iowa will come on the scene. But nothing is guaranteed, look at Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, Mississippi State — all final four teams in the past half a decade or so that really were just flashes in the pan.
Even if we don’t return to the Final Four, another consecutive B1G title I think would really be something to put us much closer to Maryland and Ohio State, and put us a step ahead of IU.
I agree with what you are saying, but it would have been nice to have a high-end 4/5 portal recruit for next year. Iowa does have plenty of guards IMO.
Nope. That's like saying asking elite WRs and OL to play with a phenom like Cade McNamara is asking a lot. Iowa women need a big to fill a gaping hole left by a graduating senior big. They are not recruiting someone to play Clark's position or lose playing time to her. They are trying to recruit someone who will reap the benefits of having a 10 assist per game point guard who specializes in feeding the post. It shouldn't be a difficult task.
What everyone said about Cade's help in recruiting was "dudes attract dudes." It's true. A good leader attracts the best of the best.
right now these are the commits in the 2024 class
#36 4* Post 6'4 Heisen
#58 4* Guard 6'0 Malleghi
so the 24 class is off to very good start
#36 4* Post 6'4 Heisen
#58 4* Guard 6'0 Malleghi
so the 24 class is off to very good start
Lulz, lawyer is mad he got burned by Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the NCAA tourney so now he's back on the defensive.
Classic.
So, there's an avalanche of top-flight women transfers descending on Iowa City, right? Players feeling they are stars do not want to compete for attention. No female athlete will be going into 2024 with the star power of Clark and why would they want to play for a team to be delegated to second fiddle. Credit Bluder and more so Jensen for Heiden's commitment. Clark's presence for 2024 and beyond is iffy for individual personal recruiting commitments purposes.
McNamara was looking for a place to play with visibility and needs. Don't get me started on Iowa football recruiting. Do you see a WR recruit? Count the WR recruits in the past 10 years in the competitive recruiting periods and look at Iowa's comical offensive competitiveness.
Equally comical are fan's appreciation of Iowa's effectiveness of producing NFL talent as if OL and LB's win championships. Look at, even compare/analyze power program's success and their recruiting methodology.
Teams with skilled players win championships.
Is it only in Iowa City you can sit on your ass counting your reward from mickey mouse bowls. Recruiting is a permanent, on-going effort. Going to-toe against big time programs is not easy, but what is it now, 4, or 5 million is a lot of money. I say he isn't coming close to earning it. What does 5 million deserve?
P.S. forget the den mother bullshit.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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You forgot two lmao but go on keep acting like you pay attention.
Leave gilligan alone. He doesn't know any better at this point.....
I thought she left because of the death of her husband and the perception(reality?) That he was misdiagnosed or died from bad care by the hospital. Was that not the case? And i thought raveling left because he could recruit but couldn't coach. I could be completely wrong about all of this but this is what I've always thought. CVivian Stringer always praised hawkeye fans.
The swarm actually uses a larger portion to football then a certain percentage to men and women's basketball.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
It all happened at once and I’m sure when she left she was frank about the tragedy. But she has since mentioned (more than once) her kids and the second issue. She has also mentioned that it was painful to be in IC without her husband, the memories, etc.
She clearly is on good terms with Bluder / Iowa and has even said that she hates playing Iowa bc of it. I also remember she was not too happy back when we played them in the NCAAT (this was before they joined the B1G).
She came and spoke downtown once when I was in school (maybe 2009?) and I watched her speak and she had only warm things to say about IC.
It is what it is, you do what ya gotta do for your family, I’m sure it was a very complicated situation.
I met her once in passing and complimented her coaching ability. She waxgreat. Also bragged about my coaching jr high girls team, lol.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Callie Levin (Solon) and Taylor Stremlow (WI).
This is basic stuff. Have you ever read a post about wbb recruiting before? There are literally dozens of comments on here about this recruiting class. Tons of discussion. This class is likely done, not “off to a great start.”
sorry I don't follow the women that closely also it was just a week ago that I asked about a site that has information on women BB recruiting and NOBODY had responded. so I went looking and the only site I found was ESPN and they only listed those 2, so rather than being a total ass about it, why not list the players that are committed as well, oh wait better to be a snarky b***h than responding with the other 2 names.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Sorry, you do seem like an otherwise reasonable person. It just confused me why you felt the need to chime in if you didn’t rly know what you were talking about. But you sound well meaning. I’m glad you’re watching. I’m a dick, so.
For reference, Levin (PG) had some interesting offers (Arkansas for example — we don’t always compete with the SEC for recruits — and some decent names like Nebraska but nothing elite) and Kyle H had seen her play and mentioned how he thought she was likely to end up in the ESPN 100. But she hasn’t and recently we learned she changed AAU teams and is now playing for a more indie team and therefore is unlikely to get much attention / ever make that list. She also committed early (during her sophomore year) so any other notable offers she might have garnered never came. Posters here have said they don’t think she will be an immediate impact player. No one has scoffed at her offer but no one has rly sung her praises either.
Stremlow (PG) is our other ‘24 commit. She has a decent list, which includes all the middle tier B1G schools I think. Her other finalists were WI, IL, MN I believe. She has some great stats with a lot of defensive strengths, it seems, which is nice. And she has fans on this board who are excited about her. But she didn’t seem to earn any offers from Top 15 programs besides us. Her offer list reminds me of Sydney Affolter’s — pretty widely distributed and diverse across the country (with some respectable Big 12, Big East and PAC names for sure) but nothing truly eye popping.
Sydney is also interesting BTW bc tho she wasn’t an ESPN Top 100 recruit, she was ranked around #60 in Prospects Nation, the other major ranking service (there are a couple more but they seem more niche — one (Blue Star) tends to focus on specific AAU teams while the other (Prep Girls Hoops) has stopped doing national rankings, only state rankings (it’s possible that bc I’m not a premium subscriber I’m missing something there, but I’ve never seen anyone mention a kid’s specific national ranking for PGH, so Prospects Nation and ESPN are rly the two major ones).
60 vs 100+ is quite a divergence tbh, and she’s not the only one that’s happened to, but oddly enough Stremlow is also right around #60 for PN. Im sure I don’t speak for everyone here but I’d be pretty happy if Stremlow turns out to be like Sydney. Sydney also has some very strong advocates on this board who have long believed she was criminally underrated in rankings.
This is all to say that the class of 2024 on ESPN only lists 60 kids, but it’ll expand to 100 this summer. It’s possible (but not necessarily probable) that Stremlow will make it to the top 100 when finalized. I think that would be a decent haul.
The class of 2024 is likely done, but it seems Bluder is holding out hope for one more PG, and most of us think that is Britt Prince, a Top 20 recruit from Lincoln that Husker fans are 100% positive will be going to UNL. We think this bc Bluder mentioned just this winter that she and UNL were both going hard for a recruit and a more recent news story about the portal quoted her as saying they might still add one PG (4 PGs in one class would be pretty nuts, but this kid is really really good). She has offers from every contender and has said her dream school is UCLA, which offered her of course.
Come to think of it, it’s pretty great that if someone doesn’t know much about Iowa recruiting and all they do is look at ESPN, we’re decently represented in the Top 60
Though we usually have one or two Top 100s when it’s all said and done, I’m not sure we’ve ever had two in the Super 60 (junior class). Definitely a sign of progress for the program, esp since both kids seem to be trending up.
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Sorry, you do seem like an otherwise reasonable person. It just confused me why you felt the need to chime in if you didn’t rly know what you were talking about. But you sound well meaning. I’m glad you’re watching. I’m a dick, so.
For reference, Levin (PG) had some interesting offers (Arkansas for example — we don’t always compete with the SEC for recruits — and some decent names like Nebraska but nothing elite) and Kyle H had seen her play and mentioned how he thought she was likely to end up in the ESPN 100. But she hasn’t and recently we learned she changed AAU teams and is now playing for a more indie team and therefore is unlikely to get much attention / ever make that list. She also committed early (during her sophomore year) so any other notable offers she might have garnered never came. Posters here have said they don’t think she will be an immediate impact player. No one has scoffed at her offer but no one has rly sung her praises either.
Stremlow (PG) is our other ‘24 commit. She has a decent list, which includes all the middle tier B1G schools I think. Her other finalists were WI, IL, MN I believe. She has some great stats with a lot of defensive strengths, it seems, which is nice. And she has fans on this board who are excited about her. But she didn’t seem to earn any offers from Top 15 programs besides us. Her offer list reminds me of Sydney Affolter’s — pretty widely distributed and diverse across the country (with some respectable Big 12, Big East and PAC names for sure) but nothing truly eye popping.
Sydney is also interesting BTW bc tho she wasn’t an ESPN Top 100 recruit, she was ranked around #60 in Prospects Nation, the other major ranking service (there are a couple more but they seem more niche — one (Blue Star) tends to focus on specific AAU teams while the other (Prep Girls Hoops) has stopped doing national rankings, only state rankings (it’s possible that bc I’m not a premium subscriber I’m missing something there, but I’ve never seen anyone mention a kid’s specific national ranking for PGH, so Prospects Nation and ESPN are rly the two major ones).
60 vs 100+ is quite a divergence tbh, and she’s not the only one that’s happened to, but oddly enough Stremlow is also right around #60 for PN. Im sure I don’t speak for everyone here but I’d be pretty happy if Stremlow turns out to be like Sydney. Sydney also has some very strong advocates on this board who have long believed she was criminally underrated in rankings.
This is all to say that the class of 2024 on ESPN only lists 60 kids, but it’ll expand to 100 this summer. It’s possible (but not necessarily probable) that Stremlow will make it to the top 100 when finalized. I think that would be a decent haul.
The class of 2024 is likely done, but it seems Bluder is holding out hope for one more PG, and most of us think that is Britt Prince, a Top 20 recruit from Lincoln that Husker fans are 100% positive will be going to UNL. We think this bc Bluder mentioned just this winter that she and UNL were both going hard for a recruit and a more recent news story about the portal quoted her as saying they might still add one PG (4 PGs in one class would be pretty nuts, but this kid is really really good). She has offers from every contender and has said her dream school is UCLA, which offered her of course.
Come to think of it, it’s pretty great that if someone doesn’t know much about Iowa recruiting and all they do is look at ESPN, we’re decently represented in the Top 60
Iowa has 8 women players on its 23-24 roster that were rated/ranked on or more top 100 recruiting sources.
Stuelke
Affolter
Clarke - McDonalds All American
O'Grady
Ediger
Martin
Gyamfi
Kuerebach - transfer from Iowa State
McCabe was ranked in the top 110 on at least one recruiting service.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
Hard to keep up with all the services. Thanks. IIRC Gabbie Marshall was close... like 120. Bluder is not fielding a team of slugs, that's for sure. The UConns and S Carolinas are loaded with top 5 recruits perennially and their NCs indicate it.
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This is a terrific class IMO. In these days of carte blanche transferring, program buy-in is imperative. Heiden and the Wisconsin recruits sounded like they were all-in for Bluder's approach as well as her system.
In the case of Heiden, deciding to journey from Oregon to Iowa City for 4-5 years is a big deal when less stressful and forbidding opportunities were available, as they were on the West coast and within state.
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She absolutely loved Iowa city and came back to see her two sisters who had moved here and continued to stay in IC for several years, not sure if they are still here or not. she left because her grief was overwhelming and she needed afresh start in a place where she could maintain some anonymity.
I think all of the Iowa community sent orayers and good thoughts with her. She was missed. Great coach and great lady.
It's now June. Iowa still has an available scholarship and a gaping hole at the center position. Still, not a single transfer prospect has even visited Iowa.
Very strange. That would be like LeBron going to the Lakers and no one else wanting to play with him.
Very strange. That would be like LeBron going to the Lakers and no one else wanting to play with him.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
We do not have a gaping hole at C. We have 3 top 100 kids competing for that spot in addition to Goodman who had a solid freshman year.
All of them are more athletic in one way or another than Czinano ever was — either better rebounders, faster, excellent shot blockers, or better ball handlers. One is 6’4, another 6’3. Yet the two shorter kids were both Top 50 recruits. We are spoiled for options.
Also not sure what program you’ve been following but Iowa wbb has never publicized transfer visits and most kids don’t do so either. We certainly may have had a visit but that doesn’t mean you’d know about it. This year is the first year I’ve ever seen so much come out about kids visiting other schools (and it’s just LSU and SC really) but those were mostly leaked / reports from others on the ground moreso than the kids actually publicizing.
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Shikreto, I hope you're right, but I'm not quite as confident re: the post players for next year. I think you have to look at the 4 and 5 together, as both Czinano and Warnock departed. I think the way Bluder would like to go is O'Grady starting at the 5, and Stuelke at 4. But O'Grady is not particularly athletic, and didn't make much of a jump from her freshman year. She seems a little slow, passive, and doesn't have Monika's hands. If Coach has to start Stuelke or Ediger at post, then who is the 4? We would also be an undersized team in that configuration, and none of our 4/5's can stretch a D with outside shooting like Monika did. So I think all 5 (including Goodman and Gyamfi) need significant growth in their game in order for Iowa to be as competitive as they were last season. Maybe we'll see that, but to me it seems far from assured. I have a lot more confidence in our PG, 2, and 3 players.
A couple things:
1) Don't forget that Czinano made a huge jump between her freshman and sophomore year. After Gustafson graduated no one thought she could replace her, yet she became one of the best 5s in the country. No one should expect that kind of jump obviously, but the coaches are best positioned to know what they have at the 5 and seem comfortable.
2) Stuelke's per-40 numbers are mostly equal to or better than Gustafson's from her freshman year. Stuelke is also far more athletic. Again, no one should expect Stuelke to become Gustafson, but I'd be surprised if Stuelke isn't the team's second leading scorer next year.
3) The portal this year was underwhelming. Outside of a few big stars, no one would've been particularly happy with whatever transfer Iowa could've theoretically landed. Trying to land Britt Prince or load up in the 2025 class is probably a better long-term strategy than adding a depth piece for 2023-2024.
Michael Jordan didn't have marginal talent around him when he won titles. Generally, if you have a big 3 you have a pretty good shot. Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant and then he had Scottie Pippen, Tony Kukoc and Dennis Rodman. It's a myth that he didn't have quality teammates.
Not to mention some three point marksmen like Steve Kerr, and BJ Armstrong. Clearly winning six titles after getting a better supporting cast makes that obvious..
It's also a myth that Caitlin Clark won't have quality teammates this upcoming season.
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