Incoming freshman Samantha Logic earned numerous honors in high school, and she has her sights set on a bigger one.
Her goal in college is to have Iowa be named the Big Ten champion.
The 5-11 guard from Racine, Wis., was a McDonald’s All-American, Wisconsin’s Gatorade Player of the Year, and the 10th-overall prospect in the 2011 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. Her decision to come to Iowa gives the Hawkeyes an opportunity to continue building the program.
“We have a good chance of playing with anyone, staying with anyone, and beating anyone,” Logic said. “A couple Big Ten championships. That would be a high goal.”
Game Time League and Hawkeye teammate Megan Considine said Logic and Iowa’s other incoming freshmen could help the Hawks achieve that goal sooner rather than later.
“We want to be the top of the Big Ten — that’s our goal every year,” Considine said. “All five of the freshmen coming in are good players … It keeps the veterans on their toes working hard, because they know that [the freshmen] are coming in.”
Logic brings a style of play that her Game Time coach, Mike Stoermer, said could make her a perfect replacement for Kachine Alexander. The recently departed guard is only the fifth player in Big Ten history — and the only one from Iowa — to record 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, and 300 assists.
It was often the little things that made Alexander so important, though, and it seems Logic has a similar approach to the game.
“[I’m] a hustler. I’ll do anything to win,” she said. “Get the 50-50 balls, get the rebounds or the offensive boards, or take charges — the dirty work, I guess.”
She has brought more than just hustle to her Coralville Hy-Vee (1-1) team during Game Time play this summer — she averages 19 points and 8 rebounds a game.
She said she’s had a lot of fun so far playing with teammates Considine and fellow freshman Virginia Johnson.
Considine had similar feelings, saying Logic has played hard and is the first person to hand out high-fives when things are going well. The senior said it feels as if Logic has been with the team for a year, not just a few weeks, and Logic agreed.
“This team is really close [and] they really want us to feel like it’s not just, ‘Oh, the freshmen,’ ” she said. “The entire team is just so welcoming. We’re bonding already [and] we’ve only been here two weeks. That’s promising.”
For Logic, who joined the team for a cookout at coach Lisa Bluder’s house Monday night, the team and the city appear to be a natural fit.
Logic was recruited by many top programs, including Marquette, Vanderbilt, and Stanford, but she said Iowa always felt right. Then, after she came to know the coaches and her teammates, she said, there was no place she would rather be.
Stoermer said he thinks expectations for Logic and the rest of the incoming freshmen are high, but both the system Bluder has in place and the veteran team surrounding them will make things a lot easier.
“I think this particular situation will be absolutely perfect for her,” Stoermer said. “She has an opportunity to make an immediate impact.”