[Herky] Elite Recruit!

[Larry Edwards]

I agree with you. After the 4 seniors graduate in 2016, Iowa basketball may take a step back in 2016-2017, as they will have only 3 upperclassmen. Peter Jok and Dale Jones will be Seniors and Dom Uhl will be a Junior in 2016-2017. Thus, in the unlikely event no one transfers, there will be two scholarships open in 2017 and one in 2018. 

Iowa should be fine without a true center on offense. On defense, the faster shot clock and using quicker players to press may partially offset a size disadvantage. 

It will be interesting to see what heights incoming players are listed at in the official Iowa statistics. Observers at the first PTL game thought several incoming players were shorter than their claimed heights, based on comparisons to existing and former Iowa players they were seen beside. Some thought Dale Jones only 6'6", though at 230 pounds he should be strong enough to play power forward. JUCO players often have exaggerated heights and Jones was listed at 6'5" as a high school senior. A growth spurt of three inches after high school is unusual but not impossible. Many thought Wagner only 6'6" rather than 6"7" and Hutton 6'4" or even less. 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Jerry Ruttenburg" <jruttenburg at msn.com> 
To: "Herky" <herky at lists.herky.net> 
Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2015 4:46:19 PM 
Subject: Re: [Herky] Elite Recruit! 

not to nit-pick over a few inches but Dale Jones is 6'8" and a power forward. He is a juco and will be gone in two years. Probably half of this years class will be gone in two years after the playing time becomes apparent. The McCaffery boys and Weiskamp will, in all likelihood, be mister basketball in Iowa in 17, 18 and 19. I don't think we want to turn down any of them. When a top 15 player in his class says he wants to come to Iowa I don't its time to get out the tape measure. 

The hard fact is there are not a lot of talented, back to the basket, centers around. There are a lot of good teams play without a true center. McC. will find a big, but I don't think they want to take a project. 

Jerry Ruttenburg 

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2015 16:09:59 -0400 
From: larryed6124 at knology.net 
To: herky at lists.herky.net 
Subject: Re: [Herky] Elite Recruit! 



Why? Because Iowa needs more than just wings who are 6'5" to 6'7". The 2015 class consisted only of 6 wings; all of some can play small forward along with other positions. McCaffery's sons are both likely to be wings, so Joe Weiskamp as another wing will leave Iowa unbalanced at positions. Unless someone leaves, there are only two scholarships available for 2017 and one for 2018, and Conner McCaffery and Weiskamp will take up two of those three available scholarships. I do expect some of the 2015 wings to transfer because there just won't be enough playing time at the wings for everyone. 



Iowa does have 4 scholarships for 2016, with Pemsl, a likely power forward, the only commit. Fran is looking to recruit a big man and a pure point guard in 2016, but still has multiple offers out to yet more wings. Several of the "big man" offers are 6'9" or so and may be more of a stretch 5 or stretch 4 than a true inside player. Clearly Iowa is going from an interior oriented big team to a smaller, more athletic, perimeter oriented team in the future. We will see the first evidence of that this year when Woodbury is out. It's a good thing that Uthoff is up to 220 pounds, because he will probably be the one defending the 5 when Woody is out. With 4 of the 6 incoming freshman effective three point shooters, there are several combinations that will allow everyone on the court to be a three-point threat. That will spread opposing defenses and allow drives. 

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