*****2026-27 Transfer Portal News*****

Head Guy

Sophomore
Aug 24, 2007
41
142
33
Back to portal visitors. So I see Brueggermann and Whiting have a year left. Carnegie has two. I suspect Jan like that experience.
Adding a couple seniors would be a smart move for the present as they should be plug and play ready yet they don't take any future scholarship $ away in recruiting since they will only be there a year. I think if the coaching staff can get 3 players that can come in and contribute then they have the opportunity to maybe then get 1 or 2 that just need time to developed at a cheaper price.
 

Gonzo_Bloor

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2025
717
1,879
93
Doesn't Iowa spend at an elite level for WBB? Games are sold out and NIL is there?

Shouldn't there be expectations?
You think we spend at UConn/S. Carolina/UCLA/LSU/Texas levels?

We should have expectations. My expectation for JJ is to continue making the program better and reeling in more high-level recruits. MW is a nice start. Hopefully that will continue and we'll see an increasing percentage of our yearly recruits be at the 4-5 star level. When that happens my expectation would be seeing it translate into results on the court.... winning B1G tournaments, consistently getting high seeds in the tourney, consistently making the Elite Eight and hopefully more. When that happens I'd hope we'd see our $$$ keep going up so that it maybe gets to the level of those blueblood programs, not just top-15 or 20, and we'll be able to maintain our position as a top-5 program.

What I'm not going to expect is for a team of mostly 3* recruits to perform at the same level as teams with elite 5* recruits up and down their rosters. JJ took this team to a B1G title game, a top-10 ranking and a #2 seed. Losing to #10 Virginia sucked, but if we remember a few years ago Lisa Bluder's team that featured Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, Monika Czinano, McKenna Warnock, Gabbie Marshall, lost at Carver in the second round to #10 seed Creighton. IMO that's a much less excusable early exit than this year's.
 

napali

All-Conference
Nov 1, 2002
429
1,371
93
It has been reported that Kenzie Hare did visit Iowa. has there been a follow-up article or any news whether Iowa offered?
 

Manfredi

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2023
1,062
1,850
113
You think we spend at UConn/S. Carolina/UCLA/LSU/Texas levels?

Hopefully that will continue and we'll see an increasing percentage of our yearly recruits be at the 4-5 star level.
Until the higher ups get a handle on the portal landscape...might as well use the portal instead of recruiting. A 5 star player will cost as much as a lot of the solid portal players and you have to have the mindset that any recruit or portal player is a 1 year commitment...might as well have the one with the better chance of immediate success.
 

hawkbr

Senior
Jul 14, 2024
217
564
93
You expect the Iowa program to be UConn's stature? Okay.
No one expects Iowa to do what UConn or South Carolina does and manage to build a team with ten 5-star players. We expect Iowa to do what Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, TCU, Kentucky, and Duke do to get three or four 5-star players through the portal and/or recruiting. Especially because they say Iowa is one of the teams with the most money, and we don’t see that being translated into the roster because we get only one 5-star player every five years. It seems too little for the most popular team and the one with the highest audience in WBB.
 

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
You think we spend at UConn/S. Carolina/UCLA/LSU/Texas levels?

We should have expectations. My expectation for JJ is to continue making the program better and reeling in more high-level recruits. MW is a nice start. Hopefully that will continue and we'll see an increasing percentage of our yearly recruits be at the 4-5 star level. When that happens my expectation would be seeing it translate into results on the court.... winning B1G tournaments, consistently getting high seeds in the tourney, consistently making the Elite Eight and hopefully more. When that happens I'd hope we'd see our $$$ keep going up so that it maybe gets to the level of those blueblood programs, not just top-15 or 20, and we'll be able to maintain our position as a top-5 program.

What I'm not going to expect is for a team of mostly 3* recruits to perform at the same level as teams with elite 5* recruits up and down their rosters. JJ took this team to a B1G title game, a top-10 ranking and a #2 seed. Losing to #10 Virginia sucked, but if we remember a few years ago Lisa Bluder's team that featured Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, Monika Czinano, McKenna Warnock, Gabbie Marshall, lost at Carver in the second round to #10 seed Creighton. IMO that's a much less excusable early exit than this year's.
The team that lost to Creighton won the previous game by 40 points.
Thr team that lost to Virginia squeaked by the #15 seed in their previous game.
That's a horrible comparison.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.
 

Gonzo_Bloor

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2025
717
1,879
93
The team that lost to Creighton won the previous game by 40 points.
Thr team that lost to Virginia squeaked by the #15 seed in their previous game.
That's a horrible comparison.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Lol, you're such a Jan hater. Sorry for whatever she did to you.

That 2021-22 Iowa team lost to IUPUI that season. Lol. That's light years worse than squeaking by a 15 seed tournament team.
 

citizenHawk1

Senior
Jul 10, 2025
285
737
93
No one expects Iowa to do what UConn or South Carolina does and manage to build a team with ten 5-star players. We expect Iowa to do what Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, TCU, Kentucky, and Duke do to get three or four 5-star players through the portal and/or recruiting. Especially because they say Iowa is one of the teams with the most money, and we don’t see that being translated into the roster because we get only one 5-star player every five years. It seems too little for the most popular team and the one with the highest audience in WBB.
Yes. Perhaps, but we really don't know the money figures. Iowa is very competitive with what they can do with revenue sharing, but NIL is a different thing. Lots of money flowing to those programs.

It's been shown that attendance and viewership means very little to the WBB recruits. It just doesn't. They just don't care about that. Many will take a check and sit on a bench for a perennial winner like UConn, or a Southern California location.

What iowa can do is bring in core players and build around them. Getting to the elite levels would take time and money. They are doing really well trying to build it.
 

pablow

All-Conference
Mar 13, 2010
841
4,713
93
You think using the entire conference slate for comparison is cherry picking games? Do you think using non-con games against MAC level or worse teams in your statistical comparisons is a good idea? People need to look at where these stats are coming from because rolling up stats against crappy competition doesn't mean much and a lot of the stats that people are looking at from these players are just that.

I think using that stretch of 8 games against high level Big10 competition where she was actually starting presents an excellent picture of what she's capable of producing as a starter. She was performing at an extremely high level. People who didn't see that weren't watching.

I don't know what happened those 3 games of the year, but she sucked. The entire team sucked with the exception of Ava. They were a shadow of what they had been, but looking at just those 3 games is definitely cherry picking. Do you want to know what Carnegie's stats were in her last 2 games of the year? She was 10-34 for 29% overall and 2-18 for 11% from 3 point range. It happens.
I'll change my mind if you can explain why Stremlow's performances against UCLA, FDU, and Virginia should not be counted in her performance stats. As is, I don't know why a legitimate statistical performance analysis would exclude Taylor's stats in the three most impactful games of the year.

And, BTW, who is judging Stremlow only upon her play in the last three games of the year. That's a nice strawman manuever.

As to the larger picture, I'm confident Jan is not bringing Carnegie for a visit to discuss coming to Iowa to backup Stremlow. The plan must be to move Taylor to the 3, or to 6th man.
 

Jonesy5960

Heisman
Feb 1, 2023
5,561
11,306
113
I'll change my mind if you can explain why Stremlow's performances against UCLA, FDU, and Virginia should not be counted in her performance stats. As is, I don't know why a legitimate statistical performance analysis would exclude Taylor's stats in the three most impactful games of the year.

And, BTW, who is judging Stremlow only upon her play in the last three games of the year. That's a nice strawman manuever.

As to the larger picture, I'm confident Jan is not bringing Carnegie for a visit to discuss coming to Iowa to backup Stremlow. The plan must be to move Taylor to the 3, or to 6th man.
Change your mind about what exactly?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom Paris

herkhatescy2

All-Conference
Dec 2, 2024
1,739
2,429
113
I was in Palm Springs for a meeting the last two days and Wednesday afternoon I was sitting in the hotel lounge with an Iowa shirt on. A gentleman walked up to me and said I see you are a Hawkeye fan. Long story short, he told me his daughter was recruited by JJ to play basketball at Iowa. She was a top 100 player according to ESPN. Naturally, my thought was why didn't she commit? He spoke kindly of Iowa, as a family they liked the city, the players were friendly to their daughter and the fans were super. He then explained why his daughter chose not to come to Iowa. He said the moment they entered Carver and went on the court, the discussion was about Caitlin Clark; her jersey in the rafters, her number on the floor,etc. JJ pointed out where they hold their "circle".That turned his daughter off because this was history not the present or future and the talk of a circle and culture did not resonate with her.Later that day his daughter told him, I'm really not interested in CC as I will never play with her. In a discussion with three of the coaches they asked about their basketball philosophy and such. According to him, their daughter thrives in a fast paced structure. Again, according to him, JJ did not effectively delineate a strategy. They asked more specific questions and never felt JJ had a solid grasp of their style of basketball. He never felt that JJ was as effective of a communicator as she needed to be as a coach of a major program. Finally, he said money was not an issue with him or his daughter. All she wanted was to play basketball and believe that her coach would further her career, and his daughter did not get that vibe. I will say, I looked this girl up. She is a first or second player off the bench and had a nice, but not stellar season. Now should I believe everything he said, who knows? But his daughter plays at a strong program, that I can verify.
Doesn’t sound like she would have been a good fit.
 

hawkbr

Senior
Jul 14, 2024
217
564
93
Yes. Perhaps, but we really don't know the money figures. Iowa is very competitive with what they can do with revenue sharing, but NIL is a different thing. Lots of money flowing to those programs.

It's been shown that attendance and viewership means very little to the WBB recruits. It just doesn't. They just don't care about that. Many will take a check and sit on a bench for a perennial winner like UConn, or a Southern California location.

What iowa can do is bring in core players and build around them. Getting to the elite levels would take time and money. They are doing really well trying to build it.
Again, no one here expects Iowa to do what UConn and South Carolina are doing, but if year after year Iowa stays out of the TOP15 ranking of schools in recruiting class and the transfer portal class, we will continue to be out of the Elite Eight and probably out of the Sweet 16 as well. Things are what they are.
 

herkhatescy2

All-Conference
Dec 2, 2024
1,739
2,429
113
Hmmm...what, if any, impact does this new addition to the Illini mean to Guyton? Any opinions on that? Just a curiousity for me as I was a little bummed to see her leave the Hawks after only 1 year and then I don't think she played a lot for them this past year. Did she just get recruited over or is this addition going to help her get more playing time/success?
She was a starter.
 

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
Lol, you're such a Jan hater. Sorry for whatever she did to you.

That 2021-22 Iowa team lost to IUPUI that season. Lol. That's light years worse than squeaking by a 15 seed tournament team.
Excuses, excuses, excuses...

At least you're good at something!

Congrats.
Just looked, there wasn't a single 40/50 point loss that season.
Not one.
 

Gonzo_Bloor

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2025
717
1,879
93
Doesn’t sound like she would have been a good fit.
Agree. Everyone has different priorities and reasons for committing or not committing. For this recruit culture and history didn't matter as much as style of play and X's and O's. For others, like MW, recent history of developing players and overall team culture were key to getting her to commit. Can't be all things to all people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AndreTheHawk

Gonzo_Bloor

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2025
717
1,879
93
Excuses, excuses, excuses...

At least you're good at something!

Congrats.
Just looked, there wasn't a single 40/50 point loss that season.
Not one.
Lololol. They lost to IUPUI. The mighty Jaguars of the Horizon League who play in front of a sold out home arena with a capacity of 1,215. :ROFLMAO:
 

HawksGoneWild1

Redshirt
Sep 25, 2024
17
30
13
Doesn’t sound like she would have been a good fit.

Would you chalk that to Lewis, Bjorn and Divine as well? There's another player as well but escapes my mind at this time.

Reports are out there that they don't like the CC ra-ra or being compared to her. Lewis even states it in a podcast and you can tell she's not happy about it. These people have their own skillsets they worked on and that's what they want to hear is how's their skillset going to work in your system. That presentation must include how they're going to be a piece of the puzzle to elevate the team.

In other words, if what napali says is true and I believe it has merit, Jan's presentation is not empowering to the player. If fact, it's confusing to them. It probably means to them that Jan has failed to set herself up as an authority in their mind. Vagueness = confusion = less valued = bye bye!

I remember when Skinner selected Duke over us. Skinner said Lawson has such smart strategies for breaking down schemes. This is what Kari is doing is setting herself up as an authority and smashing confusion in the player's mind.

Only getting one in the class of '26 when you have 4 leaving should tell you something isn't working in your presentation.

EDIT: Btw, we're suppose to have the NIL on top of it. We have the fans, the crowds and the culture. Make it make sense!
 
Last edited:

herkhatescy2

All-Conference
Dec 2, 2024
1,739
2,429
113
Agree. Everyone has different priorities and reasons for committing or not committing. For this recruit culture and history didn't matter as much as style of play and X's and O's. For others, like MW, recent history of developing players and overall team culture were key to getting her to commit. Can't be all things to all people.
She sounded like a me, me, me player instead of a we, we, we player.
 

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
Lol, you're such a Jan hater. Sorry for whatever she did to you.

That 2021-22 Iowa team lost to IUPUI that season. Lol. That's light years worse than squeaking by a 15 seed tournament team.
One thing I'd like you to explain...what level of failure would be enough for you to say JJ might not be the answer?

How bad would things need to get?
TIA
 

napali

All-Conference
Nov 1, 2002
429
1,371
93
Would you chalk that to Lewis, Bjorn and Divine as well? There's another player as well but escapes my mind at this time.

Reports are out there that they don't like the CC ra-ra or being compared to her. Lewis even states it in a podcast and you can tell she's not happy about it. These people have their own skillsets they worked on and that's what they want to hear is how's their skillset going to work in your system. That presentation must include how they're going to be a piece of the puzzle to elevate the team.

In other words, if what napali is true, Believe it has merit. Jan's presentation is not empowering to the player. If fact, it's confusing to them. It probably means to them that Jan has failed to set herself up as an authority in their mind. Vagueness = confusion = less valued = bye bye!

I remember when Skinner selected Duke over us. Skinner said Lawson has such smart strategies for breaking down schemes. This is what Kari is doing is setting herself up as an authority and smashing confusion in the player's mind.

Only getting one in the class of '26 when you have 4 leaving should tell you something isn't working in your presentation.

EDIT: Btw, we're suppose to have the NIL on top of it. We have the fans, the crowds and the culture. Make it make sense!
Well stated...and I think that was the feeling of the man's daughter I spoke with. JJ has to do better at selling her philosophy, her strategy and her schematics. CC is an afterthought for most of these young women. After speaking with a potential new coach, young BB players want to envision themselves playing their hearts out within a winning system. The coaches from Louisville, TCU and Duke lead their respective programs with ferocity and on court creativity. What the above poster summarized is quite accurate.
 

Gonzo_Bloor

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2025
717
1,879
93
One thing I'd like you to explain...what level of failure would be enough for you to say JJ might not be the answer?

How bad would things need to get?
TIA
I want to see her recruiting continue to improve. She landed one of the best in the country in this year's class from halfway across the country. Add MW to a solid returning core and we should see it translate on the court. If we don't at least make it to the B1G title game next year with this team, that'll be a disappointment. But for me it all starts with recruiting because that's what it'll take to elevate the program to the next level. If JJ's recruiting flatlines or takes a dip over the next 2-3 years, I'll consider that a failure and believe she may not be the answer.
 

Omahawk57

Sophomore
Aug 10, 2025
68
127
33
Would you chalk that to Lewis, Bjorn and Divine as well? There's another player as well but escapes my mind at this time.

Reports are out there that they don't like the CC ra-ra or being compared to her. Lewis even states it in a podcast and you can tell she's not happy about it. These people have their own skillsets they worked on and that's what they want to hear is how's their skillset going to work in your system. That presentation must include how they're going to be a piece of the puzzle to elevate the team.

In other words, if what napali is true, Believe it has merit. Jan's presentation is not empowering to the player. If fact, it's confusing to them. It probably means to them that Jan has failed to set herself up as an authority in their mind. Vagueness = confusion = less valued = bye bye!

I remember when Skinner selected Duke over us. Skinner said Lawson has such smart strategies for breaking down schemes. This is what Kari is doing is setting herself up as an authority and smashing confusion in the player's mind.

Only getting one in the class of '26 when you have 4 leaving should tell you something isn't working in your presentation.

EDIT: Btw, we're suppose to have the NIL on top of it. We have the fans, the crowds and the culture. Make it make sense!
I certainly agree the disappointment over 1 recruit when we knew 5 were leaving. Kenise was obvious. That was a big whiff and puts us in a bind, although might be the same every year now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HawksGoneWild1

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
I want to see her recruiting continue to improve. She landed one of the best in the country in this year's class from halfway across the country. Add MW to a solid returning core and we should see it translate on the court. If we don't at least make it to the B1G title game next year with this team, that'll be a disappointment. But for me it all starts with recruiting because that's what it'll take to elevate the program to the next level. If JJ's recruiting flatlines or takes a dip over the next 2-3 years, I'll consider that a failure and believe she may not be the answer.
What good is elite recruiting if the end result is an Addie Deal outcome?
Or an Emele Rodriguez outcome.
Is the B1G season more important to you than the NCAA tourney????
 

citizenHawk1

Senior
Jul 10, 2025
285
737
93
Would you chalk that to Lewis, Bjorn and Divine as well? There's another player as well but escapes my mind at this time.

Reports are out there that they don't like the CC ra-ra or being compared to her. Lewis even states it in a podcast and you can tell she's not happy about it. These people have their own skillsets they worked on and that's what they want to hear is how's their skillset going to work in your system. That presentation must include how they're going to be a piece of the puzzle to elevate the team.

In other words, if what napali is true, Believe it has merit. Jan's presentation is not empowering to the player. If fact, it's confusing to them. It probably means to them that Jan has failed to set herself up as an authority in their mind. Vagueness = confusion = less valued = bye bye!

I remember when Skinner selected Duke over us. Skinner said Lawson has such smart strategies for breaking down schemes. This is what Kari is doing is setting herself up as an authority and smashing confusion in the player's mind.

Only getting one in the class of '26 when you have 4 leaving should tell you something isn't working in your presentation.

EDIT: Btw, we're suppose to have the NIL on top of it. We have the fans, the crowds and the culture. Make it make sense!
You don't know what Jan's presentation is to different players. Quit pretending one anecdotal thing said by a player-dad tells you anything. It doesn't.
Who was the player anyway? Why is that such a secret? Let's see what she's doing on her chosen team.
 

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
Did Jan dump you in highschool and become gay and you have always questioned your manhood since? Its the only reason I can come up with why you would hold such a grudge.
JFC

When your argument resorts to this bullshiit, I know I'm winning.

To quote out slut First Lady, "Be Best"!
 

Bunsen82

All-American
May 6, 2004
3,009
5,462
113
JFC

When your argument resorts to this bullshiit, I know I'm winning.

To quote out slut First Lady, "Be Best"!
Hey Hey, no need for cussing. This is a kid friendly forum. When you are acting like a coach should be let go after being 2nd place in the B1G, runner up in the B1G tournament was ranked 6th going into the tournament, yes it appears you have an axe to grind rather actually being constructive. So if you think your winning you seriously got something wrong with you.
 

Anon1750875978

Heisman
Dec 26, 2018
6,622
11,510
113
Hey Hey, no need for cussing. This is a kid friendly forum. When you are acting like a coach should be let go after being 2nd place in the B1G, runner up in the B1G tournament was ranked 6th going into the tournament, yes it appears you have an axe to grind rather actually being constructive. So if you think your winning you seriously got something wrong with you.
When your head coaching resume', at a school with the resources of Iowa, includes not getting past the Round of 32, I think that's a huge red flag.

Perhaps my expectations are too high?
#Winning