5 star recruit to visit Iowa

NCHawker

NCHawker

Well-Known Member
Nation Williams, a highly-rated basketball recruit from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, is the daughter of Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Natalie Williams and former NBA guard Nate Williams. Her mother, Natalie, is a renowned former WNBA/ABL star and current general manager for the Las Vegas Aces.
 
Nation is exactly the type of player Jan and staff are going after to reach for the highest levels of success.

I'd guess she'll be a tough get but getting her on campus is a start. She has offers from all over the place including UCLA, which happens to be just down the Interstate from Vegas.

Maybe the culture and Iowa nice mean something. We can Hape, can't we?

Having played for the Aces the last two years, I wonder if Meg Gustafson has any influence. She wasn't playing much toward the end of the year, and I believe she is a free agent this year so she might not be back with them in the upcoming season.
 
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All the blue bloods have offed Williams, so for Iowa to get an official that's great.

I saw there are 8 others attending on unofficial visits. One of them, Easton McCollough, from Farmington Arkansas is a 5'9" Sophomore. Saw her play in mid-Missouri this year and scored over 50 points in the game as the point guard. She was shooting Caitlin Clark 3's in the game and making a majority of them.

She's really good. Her mom is the teams head coach and played as Miss. State back in the day.
 
Need some height and athletic length forwards to help out Heiden if we are to get to the next level. Portal transfer hopefully with HS graduating.
 
garrett said:
Need some height and athletic length forwards to help out Heiden if we are to get to the next level. Portal transfer hopefully with HS graduating.
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I think you need a tall wing too to go with height at 4/5. McKenna has said she hopes to play a lot of 3 at IA if possible.
 
Zstatman said:
Nation is exactly the type of player Jan and staff are going after to reach for the highest levels of success.

I'd guess she'll be a tough get but getting her on campus is a start. She has offers from all over the place including UCLA, which happens to be just down the Interstate from Vegas.

Maybe the culture and Iowa nice mean something. We can Hape, can't we?

Having played for the Aces the last two years, I wonder if Meg Gustafson has any influence. She wasn't playing much toward the end of the year, and I believe she is a free agent this year so she might not be back with them in the upcoming season.
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Everyone that's spent 5 minutes with Meg seems to do nothing but adore and respect her. So if there's any relationship between Nations mom and Meg that could help with this it sure wouldn't hurt.
 
With the Iowa Swarm Collective annual goal at $10m and House v. NCAA allowing school to kick in $20.5m annually, Iowa isn't going to land such a player. I believe it goes to $21.5m in 2026-2027. No doubt her visit is posturing for more NIL $$ from the 501c3 funding athletes of the school for which she really wants to play. Notice I did not say "student-athletes" or "attend."
 
tampabayhawk said:
With the Iowa Swarm Collective annual goal at $10m and House v. NCAA allowing school to kick in $20.5m annually, Iowa isn't going to land such a player. I believe it goes to $21.5m in 2026-2027. No doubt her visit is posturing for more NIL $$ from the 501c3 funding athletes of the school for which she really wants to play. Notice I did not say "student-athletes" or "attend."
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Thanks for being the debbie downer. :( big sigh
 
Hawkboys said:
I think you need a tall wing too to go with height at 4/5. McKenna has said she hopes to play a lot of 3 at IA if possible.
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I already got Journey slotted at the 3 next year with McKenna at 4 and Heiden at 5. Deal and Stremlow can battle for the 2, with Chit Chat at the 1.
 
guffus said:
I already got Journey slotted at the 3 next year with McKenna at 4 and Heiden at 5. Deal and Stremlow can battle for the 2, with Chit Chat at the 1.
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I was meaning the year after. I love Journey, but a rotation of McKenna, a 5* PF and Journey between the 3/4 positions would really open up things for both Ava and Chit Chat.
 
guffus said:
I already got Journey slotted at the 3 next year with McKenna at 4 and Heiden at 5. Deal and Stremlow can battle for the 2, with Chit Chat at the 1.
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I've seen this debated on X some already too. I'm not so sure about Houston playing starters mins at the 3... She's not really shown to have wing skills so much. She does most of her damage inside the 3 pt line and the paint I see her as an undersized 4 still. Maybe she can improve her handles and be able to expand her game to that but as of yet she hasn't really shown it yet. I see her comp as Syd Affolter. Similar size and the grit to battle for boards. Hopefully she'll stretch her shot to go outside more and look out.

They'll be plenty of mins for Houston and Wolizko to split at the 4. Hard to say how ready to go she'll be day 1 too. But she'll get every opportunity to play a lot that's for sure.

The guards I agree Stremlow Chit-Chat and Deal will have the majority of those back court mins nailed down. They could use another to step up and help up with that... Emely would sure be nice but I don't think anyone is counting on that happening. Feels like she's been one foot out the door for awhile now.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I've seen this debated on X some already too. I'm not so sure about Houston playing starters mins at the 3... She's not really shown to have wing skills so much. She does most of her damage inside the 3 pt line and the paint I see her as an undersized 4 still. Maybe she can improve her handles and be able to expand her game to that but as of yet she hasn't really shown it yet. I see her comp as Syd Affolter. Similar size and the grit to battle for boards. Hopefully she'll stretch her shot to go outside more and look out.

They'll be plenty of mins for Houston and Wolizko to split at the 4. Hard to say how ready to go she'll be day 1 too. But she'll get every opportunity to play a lot that's for sure.

The guards I agree Stremlow Chit-Chat and Deal will have the majority of those back court mins nailed down. They could use another to step up and help up with that... Emely would sure be nice but I don't think anyone is counting on that happening. Feels like she's been one foot out the door for awhile now.
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I don't know. Journey seemed to have no problem hitting 3's against Minn when Iowa was way behind and had to shoot 3's to catch up. I am not worried about her 3-pt shooting when the time comes.

I kinda get the feeling that Jan is grooming Levin as Feurerbach's replacement as the defensive specialist who can shut down the other team's best offensive player. Doubt that Levin will be starting but I believe she can give Iowa 10 quality minutes off the bench each game.
 
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guffus said:
I don't know. Journey seemed to have no problem hitting 3's against Minn when Iowa was way behind and had to shoot 3's to catch up. I am not worried about her 3-pt shooting when the time comes.

I kinda get the feeling that Jan is grooming Levin as Feurerbach's replacement as the defensive specialist who can shut down the other team's best offensive player. Doubt that Levin will be starting but I believe she can give Iowa 10 quality minutes off the bench each game.
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Well it's not just the hitting of 3s I'm referring to. It's her getting up and down the floor defending quicker wing players out on the perimeter too. Her shot was a little off yesterday but that's alright that's gonna happen sometimes. Chit-Chat is in a little funk atm shooting these last couple games. Hopefully she gets out of it soon.

Yeah Levin has that dog in her. She's not scared of anything and plays hard as all get out when she's in there. It was awesome that she was able to hit that shot she did to beat the shot clock. She's quickly becoming a fan favorite
 
I don't think we should put unrealistic expectations on McKenna. We are learning it can be a tough transition from high school star where you are far and away the best player on the court to college ball at the higher levels where everyone is just as talented as you are.

Remember at this time last year Ava was hardly getting any minutes down the stretch of conference play. What a difference a year makes.

Addie Deal didn't some in and set the world on fire. I expert her to be much better next year. Same thing with Taylor, she has really come on as a sophomore.

I believe and I've heard or read where Journey considers herself a 3 and at her height that's probably where she belongs.

What about Ava and Layla playing together more next year? Layla will improve in the off-season. Ava has shown to have a pretty good mid-range jumper. I could see it.

And don't forget the portal, maybe Jan and staff find a good 4. In my mind you want your 4 to be at least 6'2".

We'll be a lot further ahead with next year's roster than we were going into this season. But there are still questions to be answered. It should be lots of fun to follow.
 
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