2014 Basketball Recruiting: Interests and Offers

[PalmettoHawkFan]

nyuk nyuk

the first four pairs were from lick

you really think forbes and ellingson (based on what info we have) are better? they may not be as insufferable as a bawinkle/cougill tandem mangling the pick-and-roll, but if they are the only guys this class hooks, it's pretty hard to get excited.

 

[deanvogs]

I would pick the two headed monster of Brommer and Archie. Or maybe Brommer and Bawinkel if I want to have a little inside-outside game.

I need a "dislike" button for this one......

 

[sportstalent]

nyuk nyuk

the first four pairs were from lick

you really think forbes and ellingson (based on what info we have) are better? they may not be as insufferable as a bawinkle/cougill tandem mangling the pick-and-roll, but if they are the only guys this class hooks, it's pretty hard to get excited.

Guess I will just wait and see what happens. I havent seen either play, so I cant make a judgement.

 

[PalmettoHawkFan]

Guess I will just wait and see what happens. I havent seen either play, so I cant make a judgement.

that's the high road.

we haven't seen them, but except for ellingson's mizzou offer, their lists aren't scintillating.

it's like lusk and rod thompson. hard to get revved about it, especially since lachance might well end up elsewhere.

 

[hawkfan33]

that's the high road.

we haven't seen them, but except for ellingson's mizzou offer, their lists aren't scintillating.

it's like lusk and rod thompson. hard to get revved about it, especially since lachance might well end up elsewhere.

Or like Marble and White. Neither one of those guys have any major offers hard to see them ever amounting to much

 

[PalmettoHawkFan]

Or like Marble and White. Neither one of those guys have any major offers hard to see them ever amounting to much

Or like Marble and White. Neither one of those guys have any major offers hard to see them ever amounting to much

a comparison so broad as to be invalid.

the videos on marble and white both showed some athleticism, good instincts, and good court sense. white was undervalued because he was hurt during a good chunk of the eval period and marble was young for his class.

there is a big difference between a young 6'6" guard who looks like a potential slasher and can play multiple positions (marble) and a 6'3" spot up shooter who lacks quickness and doesn't appear to handle well enough to move over to the point in spots (the info and video on ellingson). marble's upside out of hs was a budget version of kevin gamble. ellingson's upside is paul lusk.

forbes looks like a more polished may with a little more size -- a useful glue guy. he doesn't have the rep as a consistent scorer like white, and lacks white's length. forbes may have a undervalued offensive skillset, because his aau team is loaded, but if so, everyone's missed it. marvin clark or milik yarbrough (if he still has a legit offer) would be better options offensively. whether forbes' d is so good that it makes him a better overall prospect than those two is known only to fran and his staff.

the potential diamonds in the current group look like clark, nzei, and okwarabizie. you might throw lachance in there, as even though he's top 100 his stock has gone up a lot this summer.

you have to have on some black and gold super glasses to get juiced about ellingson and forbes. they're potential complimentary pieces, not potential feature players.

 

[hawkfan33]

a comparison so broad as to be invalid.

the videos on marble and white both showed some athleticism, good instincts, and good court sense. white was undervalued because he was hurt during a good chunk of the eval period and marble was young for his class.

there is a big difference between a young 6'6" guard who looks like a potential slasher and can play multiple positions (marble) and a 6'3" spot up shooter who lacks quickness and doesn't appear to handle well enough to move over to the point in spots (the info and video on ellingson). marble's upside out of hs was a budget version of kevin gamble. ellingson's upside is paul lusk.

forbes looks like a more polished may with a little more size -- a useful glue guy. he doesn't have the rep as a consistent scorer like white, and lacks white's length. forbes may have a undervalued offensive skillset, because his aau team is loaded, but if so, everyone's missed it. marvin clark or milik yarbrough (if he still has a legit offer) would be better options offensively. whether forbes' d is so good that it makes him a better overall prospect than those two is known only to fran and his staff.

the potential diamonds in the current group look like clark, nzei, and okwarabizie. you might throw lachance in there, as even though he's top 100 his stock has gone up a lot this summer.

you have to have on some black and gold super glasses to get juiced about ellingson and forbes. they're potential complimentary pieces, not potential feature players.

This is some revisionist history at its finest. Marble was a skinny kid who wasn't that athletic with a poor jump shot and less than impressive handle who everyone assumed only got an offer because of who his dad was. No one expected Marble to be a feature player when he was recruited. Obviously it's not as easy to get excited about guys like Ellingson as it is a Ullis type, but Fran has shown a great eye for talent thus far. One of the main differences from Fran and Lickliter is that Fran knew right away what kind of player we needed to get in order to win in the B10 and he's done a great of building a roster that is set to compete with the top teams in the conference. He's not going to waste scholarships on guys who cannot play in the B10.

 

[sportstalent]

How can a guy (Clark) be a diamond in the rough when he has been ranked as a Top 150 prospect?

 

[PalmettoHawkFan]

who has clark in their top 150?

rivals, 247, and espn all have him as unranked -- did he drop over the summer?

guilty as charged with the revisionist take on marble -- but, the sell on him was that he was young and had a lot of upside and good instincts/court sense. he wasn't a once dimensional, fairly developed kid.

it'll be great is ellingson comes in and develops into a more rounded mccausland or the player lusk could have been. but he's not going to get open looks to bury if he doesn't have a wing or pg who can take somebody off the dribble to get him those open looks.

 

[JHHawk]

It is actually 4-0, but I have no concerns. My reason, Iowa for the most part is still a very young team. There are three Seniors and last year only two played significant minutes until late in the season. That is 9 underclassmen that are still going to be there when this class steps on campus. Fran took his shot at a big fish in Ulis, but look for a lot of solid complimentary players and ones with raw abilities.

It will not surprise me if Fran doesn't fill all the scholarships, or lets Stokes keep his scholarship for two seasons and signs just three players. When it comes down to it, Iowa is able to be flexible with this class. The 2015 class is going to be very, very important and if you look at the current offers Iowa has out there, the staff is shooting for big time stars all over the board. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the current class is a "throw away" class by any means because I think some of the visitors that were at Iowa this past weekend and haven't committed yet, plus Jackson Forbes along with LaChance still can make it a very good class. Maybe not one with as much national attention, but one that we will like in the future.

I am worried. Fran targeted Ulis, Harris, Barnett, Cunningham in this class, and went 0 for 4. I do not buy that 2015 will be better for Iowa, no matter how many highly touted guys they are now offering. The top talent in the 2014 class were close to home..Chicago and St Louis. The top talent in the 2015 class are further from IC. Now, if somehow Dillard can make a real difference in Texas talent, fine....but so far, not so much. I think the 2014 class was the most important class in Fran's era at Iowa, and we missed, miserably. Now, the pressure really ramps up for 2015 to get some diffence-makers. We have the facilities, the coach, the style of play, and the proximaty....but no go for the Chicago guys,which is about the only place in the Midwest that is an open playing field for recruits. In 2015 we will need to beat MSU for Michigan preps...not easy. Or OSU for Ohio preps...not easy. Chicago and Texas are about the only places that Iowa can fight on an even playing field.

 

[hawkfan33]

I am worried. Fran targeted Ulis, Harris, Barnett, Cunningham in this class, and went 0 for 4. I do not buy that 2015 will be better for Iowa, no matter how many highly touted guys they are now offering. The top talent in the 2014 class were close to home..Chicago and St Louis. The top talent in the 2015 class are further from IC. Now, if somehow Dillard can make a real difference in Texas talent, fine....but so far, not so much. I think the 2014 class was the most important class in Fran's era at Iowa, and we missed, miserably. Now, the pressure really ramps up for 2015 to get some diffence-makers. We have the facilities, the coach, the style of play, and the proximaty....but no go for the Chicago guys,which is about the only place in the Midwest that is an open playing field for recruits. In 2015 we will need to beat MSU for Michigan preps...not easy. Or OSU for Ohio preps...not easy. Chicago and Texas are about the only places that Iowa can fight on an even playing field.

We had no NCAA success to sell 2014 recruits on. We have improved each year since Fran got here and were runner up in the NIT last year, that's great but the programs we're going up against for these guys all have made the tournament and have had more success than Iowa. We haven't been ranked in the top 25 since the final poll in the 06-07 season, we haven't won an NCAA game in a decade. If we have a successful season like most expect us to, spend some time in the top 25, make the tournament, win a game or two, get a lot more exposure, it will help tremendously in recruiting.

This class is not going to make or break the program. We have a sophomore class made up of three 4-star recruits plus another sophomore who proved to be a solid B10 pg last year. This is going to be the core of the team going forward. We have a Parade All-American freshman coming in. We could have a decent starting line up for the next three years just on those guys. With the amount of transfers now, it's much easier to pick up a solid player in the spring. Having some NCAA success plus a solid core of players going forward will make it much easier for Fran to sell to a transfer this spring, if he chooses to go route. But either way this program will be fine going forward, we're not set up for just a one year run here.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

I am worried. Fran targeted Ulis, Harris, Barnett, Cunningham in this class, and went 0 for 4. I do not buy that 2015 will be better for Iowa, no matter how many highly touted guys they are now offering. The top talent in the 2014 class were close to home..Chicago and St Louis. The top talent in the 2015 class are further from IC. Now, if somehow Dillard can make a real difference in Texas talent, fine....but so far, not so much. I think the 2014 class was the most important class in Fran's era at Iowa, and we missed, miserably. Now, the pressure really ramps up for 2015 to get some diffence-makers. We have the facilities, the coach, the style of play, and the proximaty....but no go for the Chicago guys,which is about the only place in the Midwest that is an open playing field for recruits. In 2015 we will need to beat MSU for Michigan preps...not easy. Or OSU for Ohio preps...not easy. Chicago and Texas are about the only places that Iowa can fight on an even playing field.

^^^ Hawkfan just beat me to it ^^^

IMO, Iowa also needs to start making some NCAA Tournaments, and ideally, doing a little damage. It's got to be hard to recruit out of state when you haven't been in the big dance since 2006. Yeah I know, we got Gesell from S. Sioux City, NE.. But that is essentially Sioux City, IA (my home town). Just on the other side of the Missouri River.

If you didn't grow up a Hawk fan, what looks better at this point? An offer from Iowa (even with recent improvement), or an offer from Illinois, MSU, OSU, UK, etc.?

Just gotta get that winning tradition rolling, and become known nationally as a strong hoops program. NIT bids won't cut it. That, IMHO, makes the 2013-14 season a VERY critical one, on the court. My fear is that if we miss the big dance again this year (and even worse, again next year), that recruiting won't improve, and that Fran's program peaks as an NIT program. That said, I'm optimistic that this year's team will go dancing and we'll have more success on the recruiting front going forward.

 

[JHHawk]

We had no NCAA success to sell 2014 recruits on. We have improved each year since Fran got here and were runner up in the NIT last year, that's great but the programs we're going up against for these guys all have made the tournament and have had more success than Iowa. We haven't been ranked in the top 25 since the final poll in the 06-07 season, we haven't won an NCAA game in a decade. If we have a successful season like most expect us to, spend some time in the top 25, make the tournament, win a game or two, get a lot more exposure, it will help tremendously in recruiting.

This class is not going to make or break the program. We have a sophomore class made up of three 4-star recruits plus another sophomore who proved to be a solid B10 pg last year. This is going to be the core of the team going forward. We have a Parade All-American freshman coming in. We could have a decent starting line up for the next three years just on those guys. With the amount of transfers now, it's much easier to pick up a solid player in the spring. Having some NCAA success plus a solid core of players going forward will make it much easier for Fran to sell to a transfer this spring, if he chooses to go route. But either way this program will be fine going forward, we're not set up for just a one year run here.

A lost class in 2014 will break out momentum...and leave us in situation that we have faced a lot recently...no strong senior class in 4 years. I firmly believe that a program like Iowa must have at least one or two top recruits each year to not have a drop off that leads to worse struggles recruiting the following years. I hope you are right that the only reason we did not land Ulis, Harris, Barnett and Cunningham was because we did not make the tourney last year, but I have my doubts about that. Why would any recruit ever go to NW who has never made the tourney?

 

[hawkfan33]

A lost class in 2014 will break out momentum...and leave us in situation that we have faced a lot recently...no strong senior class in 4 years. I firmly believe that a program like Iowa must have at least one or two top recruits each year to not have a drop off that leads to worse struggles recruiting the following years. I hope you are right that the only reason we did not land Ulis, Harris, Barnett and Cunningham was because we did not make the tourney last year, but I have my doubts about that. Why would any recruit ever go to NW who has never made the tourney?

Not at all there's literally hunderds of transfers each spring, it's becoming easier and easier to fill in a class if the need be. All you have to do is look down the road at Hoiberg. We got Uthoff two years ago, we didn't have any open scholarships in the spring this year but took a look at the kid who ended up at San Jose St this summer after Ingram left. If we need to go that route, I have no doubt that we will be able to pull in a transfer or two over the next few years to bolster the '13 and '14 class.

 

[PalmettoHawkFan]

it's not just the ncaa bids

it's not just the tradition

it's not just the coach

it's not just his staff

it's not just location

it's all of these in a matrix. iowa has a terrific coach, a good staff, and a little momentum. it's also an anomalous enclave in the middle of corn (that I would love to return to -- you could do much worse than teaching at city or west), and that's a hard sell for a lot of city kids. if you knock out lester and pierce (please, someone knock out pierce), most of iowa's out of state studs came from smaller cities in illinois, though ravelling was able to pull armstrong and marble from michigan (though it probably helped that grant and skiles and rice were already at the flagship schools). with some sweet 16 runs, iowa could pull top 100 kids from further than 250 miles from iowa city, but not without it.

tradition and location work against iowa. add the lack of ncaa success.

the 2015 class is the make or break -- two top 150 kids, and the program is rolling. if not, it will seriously regress when the gesell-woodbury-utoff class leaves.

 

[hawkfan33]

it's not just the ncaa bids

it's not just the tradition

it's not just the coach

it's not just his staff

it's not just location

it's all of these in a matrix. iowa has a terrific coach, a good staff, and a little momentum. it's also an anomalous enclave in the middle of corn (that I would love to return to -- you could do much worse than teaching at city or west), and that's a hard sell for a lot of city kids. if you knock out lester and pierce (please, someone knock out pierce), most of iowa's out of state studs came from smaller cities in illinois, though ravelling was able to pull armstrong and marble from michigan (though it probably helped that grant and skiles and rice were already at the flagship schools). with some sweet 16 runs, iowa could pull top 100 kids from further than 250 miles from iowa city, but not without it.

tradition and location work against iowa. add the lack of ncaa success.

the 2015 class is the make or break -- two top 150 kids, and the program is rolling. if not, it will seriously regress when the gesell-woodbury-utoff class leaves.

Agreed.

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

NW does not have a top 25 class, but don't let facts ruin your narrative.

You're right they don't have a top 25 class. They have a top 15 class. My bad...

‏@TeddyGreenstein
#Northwestern up to 12th in http://ESPN.com 's rankings of 2014 hoops classes. @BryantMac30 elevated to 4-star status.

 

[sportstalent]

You're right they don't have a top 25 class. They have a top 15 class. My bad...

‏@TeddyGreenstein
#Northwestern up to 12th in http://ESPN.com 's rankings of 2014 hoops classes. @BryantMac30 elevated to 4-star status.

Chris Collins hire lures Scott Lindsey to Northwestern - latimes.com

26th...everything is relative...ESPN puts McIntosh at a 4*, nobody else does, so take it as will. Winning on paper, it isn't like they have a bunch of top 50 kids. I am not discounting anything they have, but paper champions don't always equate winning on the floor. If so, teams like UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas would never lose.

 

[sportstalent]

Lourawls Narin to Michigan State...MSU just hosted LaChance, so this bodes well for Iowa.

 

[sportstalent]

Q&A: Riley LaChance on Gophers Visit: "It went very, very well." | GopherHole.com

I think this is a race between Iowa and Minny. Here is an interview from LaChance after his Minny visit, with Ellingson on board, this may just work out.