Iowa lands transfer point guard
The Iowa basketball team was on the hunt for an addition to their backcourt in the transfer portal and found what they were looking for rather quickly.
After taking his official visit earlier this week, the Hawkeyes have landed a commitment from point guard Drew Thelwell from Morehead State.
This past season, Thelwell helped to lead Morehead State to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Ohio Valley Tournament. He averaged 10 points and 6.2 assists per game. The 6-foot-3 guard originally from Orlando also averaged 3.0 rebounds a contest and shot 34% from three point range.
When he entered the portal, he took a visit to UCF, which is in his hometown. He visited Iowa earlier this week. He was also looking at visits to SMU and Miami (FL), which he will no longer take following his visit to Iowa City.
WHAT WILL BE HIS FIT AT IOWA?
With Tony Perkins and Dasonte Bowen entering the transfer portal, Iowa was a little shy when it comes to their guard court. Brock Harding will be back for his sophomore year and he had a solid first year with the Hawkeyes, averaging 3.4 points and dishing out 89 assists, while shooting 37.5% from three for the season.
But, beyond Harding Iowa wanted more in their guard court. While Josh Dix and Pryce Sandfort could play some point guard, Fran McCaffery would like them playing the wing and two guard with Harding and now Thelwell running the offense.
This past season, Thelwell averaged nearly 35 minutes per game and Harding was at just under 11 minutes a contest. The best guess is that while McCaffery generally plays the hot hand in spots like this, the average next season will probably lean towards both averaging around 20 minutes a game. I think who ends up starting will likely be decided by practice since the race will be tight.
Let’s look at his game on film here:
Thelwell shows the ability to get to the rim on a regular basis. While he doesn’t look to have blazing speed, he has good quickness and can finish with either hand around the rim. He also shows that he has the ability to finish around the rim and has a short floater in his arsenal. He has more of a set shot from distance, but it’s pretty solid at 34%. However, one knock might be that he shot just 64% from the foul line, which would potentially limit his late game usage. Thelwell is a solid passer with 211 assists and just 78 turnovers this past season. While Morehead State didn’t play at the same pace as Iowa, he looks comfortable pushing the basketball in transition.
