By Blake Dowson
With the Prime Time League starting on Thursday night, Iowa fans in and around eastern Iowa will get their first look at the incoming freshman class, a group that looks to take over some of the production left vacant by the graduation of four starters.
Hawkeye head coach Fran McCaffery has brought in seven players in this year’s class, and six of them will play in the Prime Time League — Ryan Kriener will not play because of illness.
McCaffery signed four in-state recruits, including the No. 1 player in the state, Cordell Pemsl of Dubuque Wahlert.
Pemsl is the No. 231 overall ranked player in the class as a sturdy power forward. At his most current level of basketball with Wahlert, he dominated games with his 6-7, 230-pound frame on the block. He has a few polished moves in the post and likes to fall away to his left (shooting) hand a lot. At 6-7, Pemsl will be less athletic than the guys he matches up against in the Big Ten.
He can step out and has a good looking shot from the short corner and high post areas, though the 3-point shot may not be there quite yet. He can also handle the ball a bit, which could help in his quest for a spot in the rotation this year.
It’s possible that Pemsl redshirts to figure out what his game is going to be. He is stuck in between positions right now; he doesn’t shoot it well enough right now to be a small forward, and he is undersized as a power forward.
Jordan Bohannon (yes, those Bohannons) is another recruit from eastern Iowa. Jordan has had two brothers play Division I basketball — Zach at Wisconsin and Matt at Northern Iowa.
The youngest Bohannon plays a lot like brother Matt. He shoots the lights out and doesn’t need a ton of space to do it. The thing that separates the two is that Jordan handles the ball better at point guard.
His ability to shoot from deep and create off the dribble for himself at 6-feet tall is why he is a top-300 recruit. His shooting stroke is very similar to that of Brady Ellingson, but Bohannon does other things better.
Bohannon will get playing time off the bench this year as a backup point guard.
Kriener is the third in-state recruit, hailing from Spirit Lake.
At this point in his development, Kriener could be seen as a poor man’s Jarrod Uthoff. Standing 6-9 and 240 pounds, he is thicker than Uthoff is but has a similar skill set — though those skills are not nearly as polished as Uthoff’s.
Kriener has exceptional hands for a player his size, and he’s a capable passer as well. He doesn’t move as well as Uthoff does, but he can step out and shoot the 3-ball like Uthoff. He is also crafty down in the post and can score with both his right and left hands.
He more than likely will not see much playing time barring injuries, but Kriener could fill a role as a 10th man off McCaffery’s bench.
Maishe Dailey brings the most intrigue to the table in this recruiting class. Dailey is a 6-6 combo guard from Beachwood, Ohio, with a wide skill set.
McCaffery has noted how much he loves Dailey’s game, pointing out his ability to pass, shoot, defend, and get out and run. Big guards that can pass, shoot, defend, and get out on the break have done well in McCaffery’s system at Iowa — think Devyn Marble.
But he is a bit of an unknown having signed on relatively late in the process, and it will be good to see him play in Prime Time.
The best recruit in the class hails from St. Louis; Tyler Cook. Cook is a 6-8 power forward, ranked No. 73 in the 2016 class and the No. 17 power forward.
Cook is a physical freak weighing in at 240 pounds, with every ounce of it being muscle.
He’s one of the best rebounders in the class, and he loves to play above the rim. He bullies everyone who tries to guard him on the block and shows the ability to score with his right hand in the post. He is the best athlete Iowa has recruited in a while.
The thing to watch with Cook is this: He played high school ball at Chaminade Prep with Jayson Tatum, a Duke commitment who is the No. 3 player in the country. Chaminade’s offense ran almost exclusively through Tatum, who created most scoring opportunities for Cook. Iowa doesn’t have a player as talented as Tatum, so it will be interesting to see if he gets as many chances to fly at the rim with the Hawkeyes.
Regardless, Cook has a legitimate shot at making the starting lineup from the first day with Iowa, and he will make an immediate impact.