2027 Recruiting
- Thread starter Hawkangler
- Start date
All of these kids are being marketed today and there are few rules when it comes to marketing.
In light of the five portal departures and graduating seniors I think Jan will take at least four in the 2027 class. #41 Suebert is a good start at the guard position in this class. We will need a SF since Stremlow will be a senior and Houston a junior their freshman year. I'm hoping #46 Mya Wilson commits to the Hawks. Another guard will be needed with so many juniors the 2026-27 season, sharp shooting Altenburg would be a good addition. That leaves another PF/C prospect, either #32 Destiny Manyawu or #42 Addison Medeck.
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I wonder if she committed after being reassured that Bill Fennelly won't be the coach in 2027
Admit I haven't kept up with this 2027 list. Think we're down to 12 left by my count with one commit. Also have not updated their rankings for a while. Let me know if I've missed someone.
Prospects Remaining:
1) Kaleena Smith (5'6" PG) (CA) 5 Star (#1) (#1 JRAS) (#1 247S) (#1 PN) (#1 ON3RI) (#1 PGH)
2) Ivanna Wilson-Manyacka (6'2" G) (MD) 5 Star (#2 ESPN) (#2 JRAS) (#2 247S) (#2 PN) (#2 ON3RI) (#2 PGH)
3) Sydney Savoury (6'0" SG) (MI) 5 Star (#3 PN) (#6 247S) (#7 JRAS) (#9ESPN) (#10 PGH) (#11 ON3RI)
4) Nation Williams (6'2" - 6'3" PF/C) (Centennial HS, NV) 5 Star (4 JRAS) (#9 PGH) (#10 ESPN) (#10 247S) (#10 ON3RI) (#13 PN) (#13 Rivals)
5) Khalia Hartwell (6'5" F/C) (SC) 4 Star (#25) (#18 PN) (#21 PGH) (#25 ON3RI) (#39 JRAS) 5 Star (#17 247S)
6) Destiny Manyawu (6'4" PF) (MO) 4 Star (#30 ON3RI) (#32 ESPN) (#44 JRAS) (#50 PN) 5 Star (#29 PGH) (#36 247S)
7) Harper Dunn (6'6" C) (NM) 4 Star (#35 ESPN) (#39 PN) (#27 ON3RI) 5 Star (#20 JRAS) (#33 247S) (#33 PGH)
8) Brookeslee Colvin ( 5'8" PG) (ID) 4 Star (#33 JRAS) (#36 ESPN) (#37 PGH) (#40 ON3RI) (#47 PN) 5 Star (#32 247S)
9) Madeline Mignery (6'1" SF) (FL) 4 Star (#40 ESPN) 5 Star (#24 JRAS) (#25 PN) (#26 PGH) (#28 247S)
10) Addison Medeck (6'3" PF) (NE) 4 Star (#36 PN) (#75 JRAS) 5 Star (#40 247S)
11) Mya Wilson (6'1" CG) (MN) (All Iowa Attack) 4 Star (#32 JRAS) (#51 ON3RI) (#55 PGH)
12) Brinley Altenburg (5'7" SG) (SD) 4 Star (#42 JRAS) (#65 PGH)
Commited to Us:
Jada Seubert (5'11" SG/W) (WI) 4 Star (#38 BTN) (#40 247S) (#66 PGH) (#87 JRAS) (COMMITED to IOWA 1/16/26)
Not in Top X List:
Caroline Bradley (6'5" C) (LA) 5 Star (#3 ESPN) (#4 PGH)
Eve Long (6'3" F/C) (KS) 5 Star (#8 ESPN) (#8 PGH)
Sydney Mobley (6'2" F) (OH) 4 Star (#21 ESPN) 5 Star (#16 PGH)
Committed Elsewhere:
Finley Chastain (6'1" SG) (TX) 4 Star (#59 ESPN) (#66 PGH) (OK Commit 6/2/25)
Melina Snoozy (5'11" CG) (Sioux City, IA) 4 Star (#58 JRAS) (#85 PGH) (ISU Commit 4/18/26)
Good list of offers but I don't think we sit well with some of them. I'll start with Nation Williams, took an official to Iowa but with UCLA's success and her being a legacy I'd be shocked if she became a Hawk. Kaleena Smith would come in as a freshman, she wouldn't want to play behind Chit Chat. Haven't heard much from Mignery since her unofficial.
I listed who I thought we had a true shot at in post #285. Destiny Manyawu, Addison Medeck, Mya Wilson are all ranked and have taken unofficial visits. Brinley Altenburg the top player in South Dakota has visited several times. Pressley Watkins the #2 player from Minnesota has visited, not sure she's been offered. Katie Muller from Dowling has also not been offered and unofficially visited several times.
Coach Barrett may have another player she has identified. In the end, the 2027 class is critical since we'll lose Heiden, Wright, Carnegie, and Stremlow after the 27-28 season.
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Do have another section I did not put in my prior post.
Visit but No Offer:
Katie Muller (6'2" F) (IA)
Layla Steward (5'8" PG) (MI)
Pressley Watkins (5'11" G/W) (MN) 4 Star (#74 PGH)
Just did another search on Katie Muller and found no offer for her yet. Do you have a link to it?
I don't have any of the main social media accounts to view all their posts so it may be there and just not showing it.
On twitX she has post that state, "I’m very excited to have received an offer from XYZ!"
I still don't see one for Iowa. Again, it may be there, just can't see them all.
Also, Kyle did not write that she had an offer into her most recent visit. Maybe she got one after this vist?
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Tbh her not picking Iowa is not that surprising, because her father is very active politically and is pretty conservative.
I don't engage in political topics on here, as they aren't basketball.
But parents definitely influence the decisions, and I would think that gives ISU a bit of an advantage over Iowa in her recruitment.
So I'm just not surprised.
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Bummer. Even so, given a choice between Seubert and Altenberg, I think Iowa landed the better player. Really hoping for Mya Wilson with the '27 class, so maybe this actually helps?
I like Jan . I know what her record is after 2 seasons and it's good.
However, I hope our AD doesn't give her a long extension yet because we need to see if Jan can fill her roster with quality players through the portal and recruiting annually. Jan needs to prove her and her staff can get quality consistently to sign to play at Iowa.
She has missed on a lot of recruits and transfers and it is concerning.
We want to compete with UCLA, USC, Michigan and Maryland annually for titles and not lose the past momentum.
Just my opinion and concern.
However, I hope our AD doesn't give her a long extension yet because we need to see if Jan can fill her roster with quality players through the portal and recruiting annually. Jan needs to prove her and her staff can get quality consistently to sign to play at Iowa.
She has missed on a lot of recruits and transfers and it is concerning.
We want to compete with UCLA, USC, Michigan and Maryland annually for titles and not lose the past momentum.
Just my opinion and concern.
I agree that it's early in Jan's tenure and that a long term extension probably isn't the best idea today. With that said, the team is already filled with quality players with multiple years of eligibility remaining which bodes well for the future. I think it's safe to safe that Iowa will be in the mix with the teams you've mentioned, just as they were this past year. The question remaining for Jan is whether she can achieve some modicum of tournament success. This coming year should provide some answers to that.
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Well we finished ahead of 3 of those 4 teams and the other team won the natty. So I’d say we did more than compete. UCLA and USC are probably just always going to recruit better than us. And I’d take Jan over the USC coach any and all day. We just happen to be in Iowa City and they’re in LA.
She's brought in Woliczko and third best portal recruit in the country in Carnegie. No SEC First team player has ever transferred to the Midwest. Chit Chat and Amari are great recruits.
UCLA gave Lauren Betts $$$ and a fantastic free apartment in Westwood. Without 2 more million a year, or hiring Dawn Staley as head coach,, Iowa is never going to be able to outrecruit USC and UCLA. It is what it is.
We couldn't get people to transfer in when Clark was here even.
There are pluses and minuses that came with the Caitlin Clark affect. A good 20% of the country thinks our fans are racists. We know we aren't, but you are deluding yourselves if you don't think Jan has to work harder on recruiting because of that.
There are a lot of variables in recruiting: $$, location, coach, teammates, perception of fanbase (ours is a mixed bag) quality of degree and life. Some things
Michigan, UCLA, and USC are far more attractive locations and far better degrees to get.
Jan has been doing a great job and aimed a bit too high last year. She's figuring it out. She had a far better than expected season with lower rated recruits than the rest of the top of the Big Ten.
This constant doubts and weird "concerns" about Jan are exhausting.
I saw people on here suggesting Alabama and Virginia coaches would be better than Jan. Both fired. One for abuse. Virginia has an enormous amount of money from Reddit to help in their recruiting.
"Come to Iowa where CHA is filled with people cheering for you!"
Is counterbalanced by
"Come to Iowa so even MORE online fans can harass you on social media and complain about your every fault on message boards"
Why does everyone on this forum act like having the state be mostly white and partly MAGA doesn't make basketball recruiting more difficult? The University and city of Iowa City are wonderful places, but the rest is something that makes it difficult to get a lot of top kids to seriously consider coming.
Jan has done a better job recruiting than we've seen since C. Vivian Stringer (who by the way wrote in her biography about how she loved the University of Iowa and the fans, but did struggle with some racism in the state), but let's keep contract short and be concerned. Great idea /s
I applaud Simona and Doughawk for their honest opinions. I have stated before that I have known JJ for 25 years. She is a moral and personable woman. However,she is not an elite recruiter and in my opinion, she never will be. Her personality doesn't sell, rather it assures parents. Iowa is a tough sell. When my daughter was looking at colleges, I took her to Boston (B.U., Brandeis, Boston College) and she said, "too cold.". We went to Iowa City, where we had been many times and she said "maybe"; then we went to LA (we live in Scottsdale, Az.) and once we walked down Wilshire Blvd. , my alma mater, Iowa, lost out. My mother went to UCLA and my daughter went to UCLA. So the question in recruiting is what miracle strategy/tactic can a coach use to sell a program. I was good friends with Bernie Wyatt and he always said, "it is tough to get the best African-American athletes to come to Iowa---. different vibe, culture and little metropolitan ambience. Andre Tippet talked about how he knew nothing about Iowa; however, he came and built a wonderful career based on his years in Iowa City. In my opinion, JJ has made a giant step forward in hiring LaSondra Barrett. I think she is excellent for Iowa. JJ is too slow in her recruiting style. With the portal and NIL money, college coaches need to move fast or fall behind. Minnesota, Michigan, USC, UCLA, Maryland, Oklahoma, TCU, Louisville, Notre Dame, Duke, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, and Kentucky are strong recruiting colleges, (and I'm not even talking, UCONN, South Carolina, LSU, Texas). JJ has to tap the international market as there are a plethora of young talented players. Forget CC; forget the circle; find more money and hire more coaches like LaSondra who can entice young women to give Iowa a shot.
I don't know Iowa City, but I wonder if all the programs that manage to get several 5-star recruits in recruiting classes or several of the highest stars on the Transfer Portal are located in super attractive cities like Los Angeles. I don't think so. And if the geographical factor were paramount in preventing Iowa from recruiting, we wouldn't have gotten two 5-star recruits from California and a 4-star (who now plays as a 5-star) from Oregon. I followed the details of McKenna Woliczo's official visit and was impressed with JJ's job. She was masterclass and sold very well. Afterwards, I got the impression that the money and energy ran out. I still think the main factor is money. Recruiting will never be an easy job, problems exist, but I feel that if Iowa had more money, the problems would become small and insignificant, and the recruits' decision to say yes to Iowa would be easier. Give Jan Jensen money to work with and then demand better results in recruiting; without money, there's nothing she can do that she isn't already doing.
Then explain why Otz, in Ames, is getting Black players to come to Ames.
I understand what you're saying, but is the recruiting process more based on location or personality?
Illinois WBB is getting Black players to a rural location.
Is part of JJ's issue her personal life choices?
I realize it's a sensitive topic, but having a lesbian coach can be an issue for some.
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Just for perspective, This past season Illinois had 4 black players on their roster, Iowa had 5.
The issue is that no program but Iowa was deeply unpopular with many black (and white, for that matter) players, families, and coaches in response to a controversy about racism that was literally the biggest storyline in the country. Those programs weren't associated with "fans" who would go on Twitter and post memes about Caitlin Clark "owning" Angel Reese (yes "owning" as in slavery). WNBA players haven't posted about how racist their fan bases are (Natasha Cloud literally posted "Iowa has GOT to do something about their racist fans!" on Twitter). It's tough to shake that, even if most of it is BS created by rage baiters, bot farms, and racists who never watched a single WBB game before CC22 came along.
It's also hard to shake it when the overwhelming culture and vibe of the team has been very white (the music they listen to, the slang they use, their cultural reference points -- a video went pretty viral back in 2024 juxtaposing Iowa warming up and LSU warming up...the vibes were starkly different). Bluder and Jan can also both come off as painfully midwestern. The haircuts especially are very glaring examples....lmao.
I believe in Jan and hope she is our coach til she is ready to retire (which I don't think will be more than 7-8 years from now) but our next coach absolutely needs to be a black woman if we are ever to get over the recruiting hump. I do think hiring Lasondra (and her recruitment of Chat and Carnegie) are huge steps in the right direction for Jan.
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There are plenty of racists in the fan base--I am related to some. There are more blatant racists in the South Carolina fanbase.
The difference between the 2 programs is Columbia, SC has a 40% black population and a higher percentage of black students. Iowa fans and the campus are overwhelmingly white.
I would feel out of place going to an HBCU. I think it is the same issue when trying to recruit at Iowa.
Why don't you post a link to verify the meme of Caitlin Clark owning (as in slave chattel) Angel Reese. That's quite an allegation.
I don't have X anymore because of how toxic and conservative it is (and this was literally in 2023) but I'm sure if you go on there and search for CC22 + Angel Reese you'll find plenty of stuff like this -- likely even worse. That was just one example I remember. I also remember people posting things like "Doesn't Lisa Bluder seem racist?" and of course it'd get like 100 Likes. Again I'd bet a lot of those accounts were just bots purposefully posting inflammatory BS for clicks but it was out there and haters run with anything that serves their narrative.
Over on Reddit there's a sub-reddit for NCAA WBB and the mods over there have had to ban dozens of people who claim to be Iowa fans for posting overtly racist crap (again, I'm doubtful many of them have ever watched a WBB game of any kind in their life before or after CC22). I think that day of the Iowa-LSU game they banned more users than in the entire history of the sub.
This crap is why, IMO, players like Aneesah Morrow didn't even pick up the phone when Henrichs called, as well as why Divine Bourrage never considered Iowa.
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Being conservative doesn't make a person a racist. Assuming all conservatives are racists is just as bad as all other bigotry out there in the world. There are also racists liberals in the world. Quit making assumptions and lets bring this topic back to basketball.
Yeah - CC and Iowa were also victims to the loser racists that used Caitlin to spew their crap.
Dating back to the aftermath of the Civil War, the U of I has been at the top off the list of schools that opened its doors to women and blacks. Our coaches need to be more aggressive in getting the story out there.
Dude his main point wasn't about being conservative, it was about the PERCEPTION that Iowa fans, and the "culture" of Iowa is racist. If you haven't seen that since the very out in the open back and forth of the whole CC22 vs Reese in 23 then you have your head in the sand. It was a BIG topic on every major sports talk show with people taking sides (mostly along racial lines). Even high profile blacks like Abdul Jabbar commented publicly (even though he didn't know crap about what REALLY happened). Again its about PERCEPTION. As yasqueen stated there have been several top black players who would not even take calls from Iowa. That's a fact, and not just a talking point.
That would be excellent information IF you could sell that to 18-22 year old women of color. Unfortunately I don't see them giving two shakes about that kind of history. They're too focused on social media and the like....
This can be a problem in some cases. Obviously, Iowa will never be as successful with top black players as LSU or South Carolina are, but we couldn't recruit Emilee Skinner, Olivia Olson, Maddyn Greenway, Jordan Speiser, Addison Bjorn, and Kate Harpring, and we managed to sign Dani and Chit Chat. Again, Iowa's problem is simple: lack of money.
Given that more than half of the WNBA players are lesbian and that at least three (probably more but three are openly out) of the players of our two Final Four team were lesbians along with two of the AC coaches at the time, why on earth would you think this would be a problem?
Also, anyone who thinks that Jan being a lesbian is a problem is not someone we want anywhere on or near the team or really at the University. Talk about University of Iowa and the wbb preserving culture, that kind of person does NOT fit the culture. Feel free to go to Liberty.
I think Jan being a lesbian is nothing but very helpful in recruiting. It signals that the University of Iowa is a open-minded place and not filled with people who hate. I think it helps counteract the widely held believe that Iowa is filled with racists and narrow minded people who will treat players badly for being themselves.
The vast majority of young talented basketball players are not going to be anti-lesbian. Young people rarely have that kind of issue.
Steph White, Cheryl Reeve, and Becky Hammon --three of the top women's professional basketball coaches are lesbian.
This is not a sport where that matters. It shouldn't matter anywhere.
Money is a HUGE part of it and definitely matters but you are oversimplifying if you think other things don't have an effect.
Like location, winter, airport access, size of city, state demographics, perceived fan biases, etc
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