If BMc can add Harris and Hartman to the 2026 class to go along with the 2025 class that includes Thompson that would be a solid foundation for the future.
2026 Recruiting
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Katrelle Harmon will make his decision on Sat Aug 9th at 7:30 pm CT.
Alabama, Oregon, Creighton, Rutgers, Washington and Iowa are the finalists.
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Alabama, Oregon, Creighton, Rutgers, Washington and Iowa are the finalists.
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Katrelle Harmon will make his decision on Sat Aug 9th at 7:30 pm CT.
Alabama, Oregon, Creighton, Rutgers, Washington and Iowa are the finalists.
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On 3 has him 91% to Creighton.
The damn schools that don’t have football teams have a decided advantage when it comes to NIL. Larger bank roll to say the least.
Welp that's a bummer. Ben will find recruiting will be tougher at this level
Agreed. There are also basketball blue bloods (with football teams ) that can outspend most as well -Kansas, Duke, Kentucky all have football teams but they are basketball first and football will take a back seat.
If you can't outspend them then culture, fanbase, winning, playing time, will have to be the selling points. For some recruits money will be the only factor -we need to find the ones that don't have money as the only factor.
The thing is, he got in on Harmon later than most, but finished higher than everyone but one. Yes, Katrelle got a bag. Creighton was in on him the longest of anyone, however. Mac will get there, it’s gonna take a cycle or two. Branham will be the litmus test.
I saw that Kenticky is using 45% of its $20.5M for basketball. Iowa 1/3 of that.
Then there is likely huge basketball NIL on top of that.
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I don't believe Iowa even offered Davis, so I'm not sure how they striked out in this case.
We didn't even offer Davis. Especially after Thompson committed there was no need for him.
We never won much of anything with native Iowa players except Kenyon so I'm not going to lose any sleep.
Kenyon is not an Iowa native.
I get it, but he's ranked #4 on the instate talent list. This generally happens when a new coach comes in. Felt since McCollom was at Drake, he might have gotten more traction.
#4 in Iowa could be #82 in Missouri. I think if Mac was still at Drake, he would have pushed hard for him. Mac likely felt #1 he wasn't a good fit for the team/B10. #2 We had a great chance with much, much better talent (we did). I've never been a subscriber to the theory that we have to recruit instate kids just because they're instate kids. That doesn't win championships.
We have a much more talented Trey Thompson in the '25 class. We're in DEEP with Ethan harris who more talented, ranked much higher, has much better offers (Gonzaga, Washington, Iowa, V-Tech, Washington) and havent' been ruled out in the Quinn Costello sweepstakes, who is also more talented, ranked much higher and has better offers (literal who's who of college basketball).
Landon barely cracks the top 250 and outside of Illinois, his best offers were from the new staff at Drake, UIC and UNI. Mac has had an extra close look at him too, with Peyton playing on his HS team.
I have actually been a believer that the first step for Iowa basketball success is to lock up the top in-state talent. That's not exactly what you are saying, so don't take this as an argument. However, we did go through a period of years when we were out-recruited for top local talent, and I think it hurt the program.
That said, one thing that is clear with McCollum is that he is picky. He is only going to offer players whom he thinks will fit his program. He's not going to offer a kid just because he's from Iowa. I think this is a good approach as well, provided that you can attract the kids you do want. The Trey Thompson signing gives us reason to believe McCollum can be successful in this regard.
I think when we hired Fran, he was told that locking up Iowa kids was to be his top priority. That's why one of the first things he did was to practically move to Sioux City and fend off other suitors for Adam Woodbury. This set up a period of years when Fran was pretty successful at keeping in-state talent home. While I appreciate his work in this area, I can also concede that it might have cost us other players ... particularly players who might have fit Fran's system better.
In regard to Landon Davis, it's hard to see it as a huge loss. As noted above, he's only ranked as the 4th best player in Iowa, and his offer list is not particularly impressive, aside from Illinois. I don't know that he fits the "top in-state talent" criteria I mentioned in my first paragraph.
Ben at first talked about securing talent close as his custom at previous stops. Then as he settled in he began to talk about recruiting nationally which he needs to at this level.
Ben's success at NWMS has really established himself in Missouri and he should do well getting the kids he wants out of the KC and St Louis areas. Selectively recruit out of Iowa with an emphasis on getting the best players he can nationally seems a good formula for success.
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Agreed. There are usually a couple of B1G level recruits in Iowa each year and I always want to land those guys. That said, its difficult to build an entire team with Iowa only recruits and compete. If Ben can recruit successfully in neighboring states and sprinkle in some national recruits then we should be in good shape.
I really like coach and I think he was the best choice for us and will do really well here. The Trey Thompson win was might have been the perfect storm for us. We had a spot available this year, he could graduate early and we could offer him playing time right away. I don't think that kind of situation is going to present itself all that often. Glad it did and he looks like a great player but beating the likes of PU for a basketball recruit may not happen again.
I don’t mean to be offensive, but I find that mindset to be absolutely absurd. Dr. Tom was great at locking down in-state talent (outside of LaFrentz) and for all of the 1990s (outside of Dr. Tom’s final season) that resulted in first weekend exits in March and NIT bids.
The last time Iowa basketball was really good (late 1980s) the roster was not constructed with top Iowa high school talent. Yes, occasionally you get a high-profile recruit in the Iowa high school ranks, but those kids are far and few between. The mindset of picking Mike Gessel over Monte Morris is exactly why Iowa basketball has largely been mired in mediocrity for three decades.
That needs to change.
I feel like you read my first couple lines and then skipped the rest. I don’t think we are absurdly different in our point of view.
Or maybe I’m just a crappy writer. Also very possible.
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No, I only skimmed after reading the first couple lines in fairness to you. My mistake.
I have just read/listened to so many Iowa fans over the years talk about “yeah, I want the hardworking, scrappy kid from Waukee, Iowa,” as opposed to someone from Chicago or Philly who is a big-time athlete, and I just have to roll my eyes every time I hear/read it. There is nothing wrong with adding the scrappy kid from Wherever, Iowa, but the majority of the roster cannot be constructed with those types of players if you want to compete at a high level.
In the spirit of Rick Pitino after making the jump to coach the Boston Celtics, “Roy Marble, BJ Armstrong, Ed Horton, Kevin Gamble are not walking through that door.”
That has been the problem for three decades and counting.
Is there any more interest from Iowa in Will Gerdes? I think Fran offered but have not heard what Ben thinks.
I don't believe Ben is pursuing Gerdes. No inside info, just what I read somewhere (and I actually don't remember where). Take it FWIW.
People don't realize how wealthy the Creighton community is. Far more big money folks than Iowa.
I agree that Creighton has money and they also don't have to compete with a football team for funds. It has always had a solid program with a strong fan following.
Creighton may well emerge as one of the big winners of the new pay for play landscape in college basketball.
May? Id say it’s already fully playing out