Jack Nunge & Indiana Mr. Basketball

Kris Wilkes, the UCLA recruit who beat him out, may turn out to be one and done. Jack will be with us for awhile. And, who knows, maybe this "slight" will prove to be the impetus to go to greater glory like it did White.
 
Good for Jack. And good for Iowa. We got a good one for almost certainty. You don't become runner up in Indiana and stink it up on the court.
 
After watching videos of all three candidates a while back, I'm not surprised as I thought Wilkes would get it. Crazy athletic.
 
I'm sure Wilkes probably deserved the recognition, but when they were evaluating the contenders they said that Nunge would be an underdog because of the publicity he got due to the team he played for. I like the rebounding advantage Nunge had over Wilkes. I think Nunge has a bigger motor than Wilkes, but Wilkes is a great athlete and pretty smooth.
 
Have we ever gotten a kid that even sniffed the Indiana Mr Basketball? Nunge is a sure fire get of that there is no doubt.
 
To my knowledge, the only 2 we've had are Luke Recker and Steve Alford. Came close to getting Jimmy Chitwood, but we didn't offer him enough benefits.

Well Steve was a coach lol not exactly what I had in mind with my question. Luke Recker is one of my favorite hawks, but we lost out on recruiting him and we're extremely lucky to get him on transfer. I think Nunge is the closest pure recruit we have ever gotten to the vaunted Indiana Mr Basketball. I would say his success is almost a foregone conclusion. Boy I can't wait.
 
It will be interesting to see if he will need a redshirt year to work on the weights. Iowa has some pretty good players coming back.
 
It will be interesting to see if he will need a redshirt year to work on the weights. Iowa has some pretty good players coming back.

I am interested to see that as well. I think if Uhl doesn't progress to Fran's liking that Nunge will get the green light right away though.
 
I've posted it before. Nunge was at 6'11" and 220 lbs at the start of the basketball season this year, according to his high school website.

http://castleknightsathletics.com/boys_basketball/boys_varsity_basketball/schedule

I'm still going with 6'10. The 220 seems reasonable. The kid is definitely not small. Even as a big though he can put the ball on the floor and stretch a D with perimeter shooting. Nunge has a nice bag of skills and will physically mature alot from 18 to 21. He will get that man thickness. This player will be a serious weapon for us down the road. He might be a better stretch 4 then we have ever had. Uthoff was a better shooter and had hops to the moon, but I have seen that Nunge's interior game is far more developed than Uthoff's was. I look for this kid to provide that true inside outside presence. It maybe a year or 2 before it is All B1G level though.
 
I've posted it before. Nunge was at 6'11" and 220 lbs at the start of the basketball season this year, according to his high school website.

http://castleknightsathletics.com/boys_basketball/boys_varsity_basketball/schedule
I saw Travis Fredrick, the former Badgers offensive lineman and current Cowboys center, play football in high school. IIRC according to the program he was 6'5". While at Wisconsin, he was 6'4". Now with the 'Boys he's 6'3".

I'm not saying Nunge isn't 6'11", all I'm saying is that high school measurements can be inflated to intimidate opposing players.

GO HAWKS!!!
 
I saw Travis Fredrick, the former Badgers offensive lineman and current Cowboys center, play football in high school. IIRC according to the program he was 6'5". While at Wisconsin, he was 6'4". Now with the 'Boys he's 6'3".

I'm not saying Nunge isn't 6'11", all I'm saying is that high school measurements can be inflated to intimidate opposing players.

GO HAWKS!!!

I think he is aware. I also think that most of us are in agreement that Jack looks to be under 6'11, but 6'9, 6'10 they are all tall. Jack will be able to play as a big and that is what matters. We aren't defending the post with 6'7 and 6'8 players like teams of the past. Garza is a legit 6'10.5 - 6'11 so I imagine after Cook leaves Garza will be the Center and Nunge, Pemsel and Kreiner will be the 4's. Obviously there will be adjustments due to matchups and fouls, but that is my take for the most part. I would really like to see Wagner develop a jumper so he can get minutes at the 3. He could be an extremely tough matchup on the wing with even the slightest threat of shooting.
 
I think he is aware. I also think that most of us are in agreement that Jack looks to be under 6'11, but 6'9, 6'10 they are all tall. Jack will be able to play as a big and that is what matters. We aren't defending the post with 6'7 and 6'8 players like teams of the past. Garza is a legit 6'10.5 - 6'11 so I imagine after Cook leaves Garza will be the Center and Nunge, Pemsel and Kreiner will be the 4's. Obviously there will be adjustments due to matchups and fouls, but that is my take for the most part. I would really like to see Wagner develop a jumper so he can get minutes at the 3. He could be an extremely tough matchup on the wing with even the slightest threat of shooting.

I don't think we have to wait until Cook leaves... Cook/Pemsl only played center because of the lack of players for the position. Cook/Pemsl are true power forwards with speed and skills to force opposing forwards out of the paint - see Aaron White. Truthfully, Wagner is more of a center (although under sized) then they are. A true center plugs up the middle on D and keeps the opponents D tight to the paint to allow your shooters and forwards some freedom. I'm guessing by the end of next season Wagner/Garza will be the primary Centers (can Garza overcome the Freshman inconsistency quick enough to be a significant contributor? Time will tell.) which will allow Cook/Pemsl more freedom to be the PF that catches the ball 10' away from the basket - to be more effective they'll need to develop a 8-10 ' shot which will open up the middle for Garza (I think Wagner/Kreiner will end up being a primary backup to Garza - we'll see though..) Nunge is a wild card that brings skills and size for both positions and will push Garza, Pemsl and Kreiner for playing time. If Pemsl doesn't find an outside shot and Kreiner more speed, Nunge will have an opportunity for some significant playing time.

As incoming freshmen, it'll be interesting to see how quickly they can can adjust to the D1 speed.
 
I don't think we have to wait until Cook leaves... Cook/Pemsl only played center because of the lack of players for the position. Cook/Pemsl are true power forwards with speed and skills to force opposing forwards out of the paint - see Aaron White. Truthfully, Wagner is more of a center (although under sized) then they are. A true center plugs up the middle on D and keeps the opponents D tight to the paint to allow your shooters and forwards some freedom. I'm guessing by the end of next season Wagner/Garza will be the primary Centers (can Garza overcome the Freshman inconsistency quick enough to be a significant contributor? Time will tell.) which will allow Cook/Pemsl more freedom to be the PF that catches the ball 10' away from the basket - to be more effective they'll need to develop a 8-10 ' shot which will open up the middle for Garza (I think Wagner/Kreiner will end up being a primary backup to Garza - we'll see though..) Nunge is a wild card that brings skills and size for both positions and will push Garza, Pemsl and Kreiner for playing time. If Pemsl doesn't find an outside shot and Kreiner more speed, Nunge will have an opportunity for some significant playing time.

As incoming freshmen, it'll be interesting to see how quickly they can can adjust to the D1 speed.

Sure I won't argue that Cook is a true PF in a perfect lineup. I'm merely basing my assessment based on Cook can play the 5 for us and I'm not sure Pemsel or Kreiner can. Cook is really the only hope we have for someone to protect the rim. Incoming Garza or Nunge could change that outlook, but that is hard to count on. I think Cook is the 5 because he can and I think Pemsel is to good to not start. So that is how I analyzed the lineup. I openly admit I could be completely wrong lol.
 
I don't think we have to wait until Cook leaves... Cook/Pemsl only played center because of the lack of players for the position. Cook/Pemsl are true power forwards with speed and skills to force opposing forwards out of the paint - see Aaron White. Truthfully, Wagner is more of a center (although under sized) then they are. A true center plugs up the middle on D and keeps the opponents D tight to the paint to allow your shooters and forwards some freedom. I'm guessing by the end of next season Wagner/Garza will be the primary Centers (can Garza overcome the Freshman inconsistency quick enough to be a significant contributor? Time will tell.) which will allow Cook/Pemsl more freedom to be the PF that catches the ball 10' away from the basket - to be more effective they'll need to develop a 8-10 ' shot which will open up the middle for Garza (I think Wagner/Kreiner will end up being a primary backup to Garza - we'll see though..) Nunge is a wild card that brings skills and size for both positions and will push Garza, Pemsl and Kreiner for playing time. If Pemsl doesn't find an outside shot and Kreiner more speed, Nunge will have an opportunity for some significant playing time.

As incoming freshmen, it'll be interesting to see how quickly they can can adjust to the D1 speed.

I haven't quite figured out why people think Wagner is more of a "5" than those other guys. Quite frankly they are all 4s, which is why a lot of people are hoping Garza can be a big factor.

Wagner is listed at a generous 6'7. He can't guard true posts on defense due to lack of size. His defensive rebound %, which is an important stat for a "5", was the lowest of the bigs on our team last year, by a pretty significant margin. He is a good defender because he is versatile enough to switch onto quicker players and move his feet and knows where he needs to be. On offense he's plays like a "garbage man" 4.

When Cook and Wagner were starting together to end the year Cook was our "5". He guarded the other teams "5" and Wagner took the next tallest guy. This often led to foul trouble for Cook because as previously mentioned he's probably more of a natural 4. Either way Cook was more a "5" than Wagner.

I really like Ahmad but I do think he might see his minutes decline the most next year. If Garza and Kriener take over the 5 spot and Cook/Pemsl likely ahead of him at the 4, there just might not be a lot of time for him.
 

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