They just heard the IA staff was actively working with “a couple of European players” and there was mutual interest. I suspect one of those was the girl who went to PU. There may be one more Euro in the works, not really sure.
*****2026-27 Transfer Portal News*****
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
You can be objective - you can say Jan still has something to prove - completely fair statements. Saying Jan should have never been hired, underperformed ect doesn't match up with the results she has achieved. The question becomes who is being objective or do you have an axe to grind.You're in trouble now.
Anyone not praising JJ is doomed to be labeled as a fan of another team or a troll.
No room on this forum for objective opinions.
Now you just have to wait for the usual suspects to announce they're putting you on "ignore".
Your only major point is that they were upset in the Dance. You still haven't reconciled how its any different than Clark and Bluder getting upset in the dance in 2022. Upsets happen. Look at the big picture buddy.
Not sure that I've heard a coach, men's or women's describe the portal as something they look forward to and really like.
Not many coaches are going the Rick Pitino route, saying they will no longer recruit high schools and just rely on the portal. I think most are not happy with what is happening now. Current college athletics is basically one year contracts for players and free agency happens every year. Coaches spend time re recruiting their own team. Gotta be very frustrating and nerve racking. Hard to plan for next season not knowing who might bail for what is perceived as greener, richer pastures.
AFM22's prize Goldendoodle nuzzled him awake. What is it boy? he asked the dog, who didn't answer, but he did start leading him outside. AFM22 didn't ask any questions, he just followed the dog. Doodle type dogs were not only hypoallergenic, but they were also very in tune with their surrounding and the dangers that may be there. The dog led him to the front door; something must be wrong outside. AFM22 cracked the door slowly but the dog got his nose in the crack and forced it open quicker. The dog started to sniff around to find what he needed to show his owner. It was a false alarm, the dog needed just to go to the bathroom. He watched his dog finish up using the bathroom and walked back inside.
There's a minute of my life i will never get back
I don't think you realize how big of a mess the portal currently is. Its a current iteration is money grab mess. Family/Players/Agents lying about offers. This is all about are you getting enough stats to get paid and if not go elsewhere. So this is no longer building a program up through hard work and team building. Its becoming at times a complete rebuild from year to year.
You can't say she hasn't been affective in the portal when Iowa is currently being rated as one of the winners and getting a top 5 transfer. 2 out of the last 3 years we have been labeled as winners getting Lucy. Last year getting Chit Chat really worked out. Now you can complain that Jan is relying on Barrett, but isn't that what good coaches do? They utilize their assistant coaches strengths and relationships to help the current program?
Now if they weren't getting results in the portal I think you would have an argument. From everything I see Jan can dislike the portal currently but she is still utilizing it to its full advantages. What has come to light is Iowa does not have the most money to give to players. There are currently a few schools that seem to have a printing press. In this current form of college basketball money talks.
I perfectly understand that it's not a pleasant thing to operate, but I don't see Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Niele Ivey, Coach Yo, Vic Schaefer, Kara Lawson, or Kenny Brooks lamenting that things aren't the way they used to be. Instead, they see the Portal as another opportunity to improve their team, and some of these coaches frequently get the best recruiting classes, then go on to sweep the Portal, and some don't stop there and even go to Europe to recruit. They are tireless, they don't have time to lament that things have changed, they adapt quickly to changes, and they become the best at what they need to learn to take advantage of every opportunity to improve their team.
If it took you a minute to read that, oof.
I think the portal makes for a very complicated and complex environment for every head coach. It has become a business and the coach as CEO has to learn to maximize results in the face of limited resources. Anyone who's run a business for many years understands this.
The first priority of every head coach today is to evaluate and prioritize the players they have in place today and to allocate a significant portion of funds based on that assessment. I don't think coaches today are looking too far beyond the next season to determine who they want to stay. Frank conversations are had with all players. It pretty much determines who stays and who goes.
The second priority is to determine areas of strength and weaknesses based on the group of players who stays along with who is coming in. Again, I think that the greatest focus for this group is on who can help today, not 2-3 years from now. They're looking for proven talent or 5 star freshmen who can fill any gaps in the regular 8 player rotation. This is where portal money gets spent.
The last priority is depth players in that 9-12 range who might also be looked at as developmental pieces. Not a lot of money and little or no chance of extended minutes.
Couple of things...my "criticism" of JJ started long before the post season, and you know that.
Doesn't matter. My post was actually a test.
You stated weeks ago that you were putting me on "ignore" for whatever reason.
Your responding today just proves you're a liar, as I've suspected all along.
It's actually comical that posters that find fault with Jensen are immediately labeled as trolls or fans of other teams.
Really comical.
I suspect we have numerous people on this site that are friends, family, and/or personality know the coaching staff.
I can understand how criticism bothers those people.
Tough crap!
Hopefully Jan is working hard also, I assume she is. I would bet the coaches you listed have all made unflattering comments about the portal also. We will probably always struggle to recruit vs the schools you listed due to history and location. You are correct we have to embrace the portal and continue to bring in good transfers and I like that we are recruiting some foreign players.
I told you yesterday I unblocked you . . . I actually thought you were better than another poster. When you are being unrealistic and unwilling to even acknowledge a different view or possibility yes it does become trollish. We don't have to agree - but I also don't have to read 1000 times Jan needs to be let go because she got upset. Oh well back to ignore. I update my block list fairly frequently. There are a few permanent ones, otherwise I create my own time out box.
Every change is difficult, I imagine it must be very complicated to operate in the Portal. For example, i imagine how frustrating it must have been for Jan to give more PT to Guyton than to all entire rest freshman class (even more minutes than she gave to Heiden) just for she transfer in the following year, but things are as they are. When a person clings too much to the past and complains about how things are in the present, it creates internal resistance that makes adaptation even more difficult. I really like many of Jan's qualities, but I think she needs to change her attitude towards the Portal, it's not the first time I've seen her complain about it.
If I had to guess, pretty much every coach in major college sports has expressed frustration and misgivings about how the portal operates and how it has impacted their sports and their relationships with their players. Every coach also understands how important it has become in the competitive landscape today. Many have simply decided to leave altogether as a result. That's not necessarily indicative of whether a coach is willing and able to use it to their advantage. Iowa has already won the portal game this year. I'm fairly confident that Iowa kept every player they were concerned about keeping. The ones that left knew where they stood. The staff has successfully upgraded the roster with at least 2 players who have shown to be superior to the ones they replaced. Carnegie is a huge upgrade over Deal, and Whiting is a huge upgrade over any one of the others that left. Faison hasn't had a real chance to show what she can do yet, but she's further down the depth chart and likely in any case to be at least as able as the players who left.
Is that what you got from her 17 minute interview?
She can be competent in the portal and still not be a fan of it. She can still pull in portal talent and prefer the pre-portal days where you recruit a squad and develop.
She literally talked about the process and how sometimes its easier when you have a foot in the door like Barrett.
I bet fans of other schools don't see Jan complain either.
I imagine the coaches of the year in and year out top teams in the country and may also have lots of money to hand out probably are more likely to feel the portal is just fine. Well, the portal sucks and is hurting many programs that want to build their teams by recruiting high school graduates and trying to build them that way.
I wonder if in the future HS recruiting will shift from schools competing for recruits to HS players vying for spots on college teams to get in position for N.I.L. dollars. The very top athletes will always find spots.
Whiting has started every game of her career. She is absolutely an upgrade over Deal.
The thing about Carnegie and Whiting is that they're *proven* players. This time last year, we didn't know what to expect with our newcomers. Deal, Wright, Rodriguez, Hays, and Houston were all unproven players. We got lucky that Wright and Houston became as good as they were in their first season as Hawks. Stremlow and McCabe also improved from past seasons. Stuelke and Feuerbach didn't necessarily improve but they didn't regress either -- both provided a specific skillset that was critical to the team's success this past season and largely performed their roles as expected.
Again, this time last year, we were excited about having so much depth in that roster but there were a lot of question marks. Wright, Houston, Strem, McCabe trended in the right direction but Deal, Rodriguez and Mallegni were unable to prove themselves as B1G caliber players (Hays as well). Really we only had 3 guaranteed starters (and they were all pretty one-dimensional) and then 6 question marks.
In contrast, we now bring back 7 proven players (plus Hays -- but I'm not worried about her as a bench 5 who will continue to buy into Jan's system) who can contribute on day one. Carnegie is going to be the best player on the team and Whiting can contribute immediately. Our top 7 are all much more complete players with diverse skillsets than last year. Our question marks don't really start til player 8. If we can get something at all out of Hays and Faison (not to mention Woliczko!!), then we have a *lot* to be excited about. We are definitely poised to be a better team than last year.
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I agree with almost all of this. Ava will be the best player on the team however.
Amari Whiting was not someone LaSondra knew. Neither was Lucy Olsen, who Jan was instrumental in landing (and keeping after Bluder retired). I can't tell if you're just wedded to being serially anxious about all things regarding Iowa WBB or just someone wedded to negativity. Either way, it feels like you're really putting a doomsday type of spin on things. I'd get that if we weren't ranked in the Top 10 already for next season or missing someone at a key position or not landing major recruiting wins. Being stressed about what would happen *if* our coaching staff was completely different and couldn't recruit anyone is a very strange way to spend your time and a very defeating way to keep up with news about the program.
Jan has said more than once that there's no point in being in the game if you're not willing to play it as it is. She isn't saying anything that any other coach wouldn't say in this same type of interview. You're basically saying you have an opinion on what Jan should be feeling, thinking and saying, which tbh has nothing to do with how she does her job....she is doing her job just fine btw. Iowa is now recruiting like never before and is still finishing in the Top 2 of the big, just as we were accustomed to a few years ago when CC22 was our PG...
I'm sure not all HCs are the same. Some prob really like recruiting more than developing, some probably like developing more than recruiting.
About 95% of Jan's coaching career has been a system where scholarships mean something teams are built over developing 4 years. Almost immediately upon taking the HC job, that system became obsolete. She said she's adapting to the portal while also trying to build on the foundations of team, culture, and gratitude.
She said one of the frustrating parts is so much time is spent roster building, recruiting, flying to workout players, and its such a long process to finally get on the court with the players she has.
Well, it was Kirk Ferentz that sealed the deal on Olsen
You upset Bunsen Burner 82. You should really send a gift card and apologize. There are some feeble emotions on this board.
The top end talent on this team is going to be really really good. Dani and Ava are both 1st Team All-B1G and potentially All-American talents. McKenna could be a freshman of the year caliber player if she lives up to her hype and potential.
Then they fill out the regular rotation with proven commodities in Chat, Amari, Journey, and Taylor, and this is now the most balanced team I can remember for Iowa WBB.
ESPN senses the same thing with their updated way-too-early top 25 release from today, which has Iowa at #6 in the nation.
One appealing thing about Jan is how open and transparent she is about her thinking. She doesn't hide behind coach-speak like most others.
You must not be seeing it, only because you aren't looking very well. Are you paying attention to every interview with other coaches?
I've definitely heard Geno, Dawn, Vic snd Kara lament the portal. Like Jan, most coaches say the exact same things wish they didn't have this added wild west chaos free-agents no-rules-mess. Like Jan, they try to do their best for their team through the portal.
It's a slightly harder road when you're you've been more of a developmental program and you dont have oil/reddit/etc money and you're not a place where it's easy to attract young people, but Jan has done tremendously.
Geno wrt the portal:
"UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma criticized the NCAA transfer portal for being a "mess."
"It was gonna be a mess from the beginning, and it's a mess now, and it's going to be a bigger mess each and every year," Auriemma said Wednesday morning via Zoom. "A lot of these kids are delusional. You know, they have so many voices in their ear.""
Why do certain "fans" of this team judge Jan more harshly than they do other team's coaches? She's very very widely respected and liked, and certain "fans" on here seem to look at everything she does through a negative lens all of the time.
It's very weird and feels like it is a disingenuous agenda for you and not about basketball.
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My thought exactly. The video was an interview, not a speech. She was asked about the portal and gave an honest answer. If there ever could be a way to make financial details public the whole process would be more palatable.
Outside of having to deal with $$$ issues, the portal should make it easier to construct what you want in a team.
No more having to develop high school talent, see Addie Deal, and you can get players where you know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Some coaches can develop players, some can't!
Iowa is obviously in the top 10% in resources to go get those pieces.
Anyone that knows my posting history knows I don't give a shiit who I piss off.
Am I always politically correct???
That's a HELL to the no.
I apologize if an opinion different from yours causes you so much discomfort. A person as positive as you think you are should handle differing opinions better and not be passive-aggressive with someone you don't know, as you're trying to be with me simply because you don't like my opinion. It's a huge exaggeration to say that I painted an apocalyptic scenario just because I repeated what Jan said in an interview—that recruiting players on Portal is the "least favorite" part of her job and that it's "disheartening" that things are this way. The one creating an apocalyptic scenario and being negative here is actually you. I also disagree with your opinion that we're doing as well now as we were when CC22 was with us, but I'm not going to try to offend you because of that, actually, i think this your opinion is funny.
What is apocalyptic about me saying that Jan is doing a good job in her second year and I'm looking forward to the upcoming season?
Except your first sentence said it all literally. "Outside of having to deal with $$$ issues". that's the problem. $$$ brings expectations of value, playing time, stat stuffing to increase further $$$, ME ME mentality and lack of patience in development. (All of this is the very opposite of "team"). Not to mention the even bigger issue that with ZERO restriction of movement like we have now there's no guarantee the player will even be on your team the following year. That brings added pressure to get max value from the player NOW on both sides.Outside of having to deal with $$$ issues, the portal should make it easier to construct what you want in a team.
No more having to develop high school talent, see Addie Deal, and you can get players where you know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Some coaches can develop players, some can't!
Iowa is obviously in the top 10% in resources to go get those pieces.
Coaches probably realize you're "rerecruiting" every year going forward.
Results bring $$$. People and entities want ROI on what they donate.
As an example, the Okie State HC better show results THIS season or she's looking for another job a year from now.
I don't know exactly what Jensen makes, and it doesn't matter, but at some point(hopefully quickly) she's gonna have to get to the 2nd weekend of the NCAA tourney.
Second place in the B1G doesn't mean squat when you get thrashed by 50+ points in the conference championship.