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Shateah Wetering enters the portal, roster spot open for the Hawkeyes

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann04/11/23HuesmannKyle
shateah-wetering-enters-the-transfer-portal
Photo by Dennis Scheidt

While the end of the women’s basketball season has came and went, transfer portal season is just underway. Players are entering the portal in search of a new home, while teams are looking to make additions to bolster their roster for next season. The first news out of Iowa, is a departure rather than an addition. Redshirt sophomore Shateah Wetering has announced that she will enter the transfer portal.

The Iowa native spent three years in the program and played in 21 games. Out of Montezuma High School, Wetering was a three-time SICL All-Conference selection and was named to the IPSWA All-State team as a junior. She averaged 18.9 points and 5.4 rebounds during her junior season, as the Braves advanced to the 1A State Final Four.

As a freshman at Iowa during the 2020-21 season, Shateah appeared in just seven games. She finished with two points and two rebounds in a win over Western Illinois. Her sophomore season was ended before it could even get underway, as she suffered a season-ending ACL tear in October of 2021.

This past season, Wetering appeared in 14 games for the Hawkeyes and averaged 6.3 minutes per game. In the season opener against Southern, she finished with three points and three rebounds. She finished the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

How the departure impacts the Iowa offseason in the transfer portal

With the departure of Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock, a need for a post player from the transfer portal became clear. However, with the roster set to be full with 15 scholarship players, Hawkeye fans have been somewhat quietly been hoping that a spot became available. The news of Wetering entering the portal frees up a spot for Lisa Bluder and her coaching staff to look for a player in the transfer portal.

We take a look at a couple of the options that Bluder and the staff may also be looking at…

6’7 Stanford C Lauren Betts– This would fit the Hawkeyes needs to-a-T. Out of Aurora, Colorado, Betts was rated as the #1 player in the class of 2022 by ESPN. She was a McDonald’s All-American and a two-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year.

As a true freshman at Stanford this season, Betts played in 33 games and averaged 9.7 minutes per game. She averaged 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 60.2% from the floor. She scored in double figures ten times, including a season-high 18 points against Cal St Northridge. Her best performance of the season came at Colorado when she finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes. While Betts played limited minutes, she averaged 24.3 points and 14.4 rebounds per 40 minutes played.

She would immediately help Iowa fill the void left by Monika Czinano and would be a tall interior player that could help the Hawkeyes rebound against offensive rebounding minded teams.

The caveat here is that Betts has connection to two players on the current Iowa team. She was high school teammates with Addison O’Grady and they made the state tournament three straight seasons. Lauren also played on the 2021 FIBA U19 Team USA World Cup team with Caitlin Clark. They won a gold medal in Hungary together.

6’1 DePaul F Aneesah Morrow– Another name to keep an eye on is DePaul transfer Aneesah Morrow. The Hawkeyes got a chance to face off against her in a preseason closed scrimmage in Chicago back in October. In two seasons with the Blue Demons, Morrow was a two-time AP All-American and won the Big East Freshman of the Year award in 2022.

During her freshman year, Morrow averaged 21.9 points and 13.8 rebounds, while shooting 51.9% from the floor for a DePaul team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. She scored a season-high 41 points at Creighton on 2/27/22 and scored 20+ points in 19 games, including 28 points in a loss to Dayton in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.

This past season as a sophomore, Morrow averaged 25.7 points and 12.2 rebounds. She saw her shooting percentage fall to 42.5%, but was forced to shoulder the load and took 251 more shots for a DePaul team that was just 16-17 overall. She scored a career-high 45 points on 18/32 shooting at Northwestern. Morrow scored 20+ points in 28 of her 33 games.

If the Hawkeyes were to land Aneesah Morrow, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to check off the “get height in the portal” box, but they would get an athletic scorer and rebounder. She shot just 24.9% from three-point range at DePaul, but made 53 this past season, so she is someone that can help stretch the floor even more for an Iowa team that loves to go fast.

Keep checking back to HawkeyeReport for coverage of the Iowa Women’s Basketball team and any news regarding the transfer portal.

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