Despite all the negative comments I can easily believe this might be true. Excellent return on investment, would easily pay for itself. Anything can happen in the tourney, but would likely position them well for natty. Iowa has a lot of $, especially compared to us. Per the wrestling gurus on this board they are paying $100k+ for wrestlers.
WBB: General All-NCAA Thread - Not Team Cyclones Stuff
- Thread starter BoxsterCy
- Start date
They are not going to get her apparently. Jeff Linder is saying Iowa is not getting any of the big three The "Sith" Van Lith Betts or Morrow- Have they been priced out? Betts did not have Iowa in her top three when she committed to Stanford so might just be west coast girl doesn't want to come to Iowa and who could blame her. There was a 6 figure offer on the table for Betts.
according to an article I read according to jacob Keppen,who should be the next hok to lead them to the natty they so richly deserve for cc. he said it is between van lith or betts and they did open up a spot by having a player hit the portal. it was a bittersweet exit but great for the hok wbb program. just a bunch of bs
Supposedly Betts was looking at Colorado and UCLA but maybe a big dog like UConn has entered the picture. She may very well have a 6 figure offer in hand but not from Iowa.
Van Lith isn't someone the staff is pursuing. Iowa has plenty of guards already including a ball dominant guard in Clark. Van Lith wouldn't be a good fit next to Clark.
I hadn't heard EIU had a WBB player enter the portal - I wanted to know who it was so I assume others do as well. From the Daily Iowan:
"Iowa women’s basketball forward Shateah Wetering has entered the transfer portal, multiple sources confirmed on Tuesday.
Wetering, a redshirt sophomore, has been with the Hawkeyes for three seasons and will have three years of eligibility remaining. She joined the Hawkeyes in 2020 and played in seven games her freshman season. Wetering then tore her ACL ahead of the 2021-22 season, sitting out the entire year.
The Montezuma, Iowa, native, played sparingly again this season, appearing in 14 games and registering 18 total points and 12 rebounds."
They then go on to mention this puts them in play for a high profile transfer and discuss Betts.
They are in a unique situation for a team outside the "elite", they has an elite player and have just come off of an appearance in the champs game. It's an enticing landing spot for a post but who knows or can really guess on destinations for players. So much of the online speculation is just way off in the end. How much they are in play for Betts is open to speculation. Maybe not a bad spot for her, with some other gals back in the post and power forward it's not like she'd have to instantly go from backup to a double double machine or something.
Thing is the COVID 5th year option giveth and it taketh away. For Iowa, they get Marshall and Martin back but that and honoring a scholarship to Jones (who will never play) put them at 15.
** Edit: incorrect.
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Others "forecast" that Iowa would "ask" a player to leave to open up a spot…curiouser and curiouser.
15 is the max "counter" number (i.e., scholarships). There's no cap on actual roster size.
This is correct.
However, you can't convert Ava Jones to a walk-on and still give her a scholarship. She was recruited to Iowa to play basketball, so she can't get a scholarship of any sort and still be a walk-on. (At the very least, she can't get a scholarship that is not available to the general student body, but I'm a little fuzzy on the rules.) However, she could, as @BoxsterCy says, take a medical retirement, be a student assistant or something, and the school can give her whatever money they want -- but she probably wouldn't be able to rejoin the roster (although, again, a little fuzzy on the rules).
The Iowa fanbase is dying to play in the portal this year and transition current players out of the program. I've seen Iowa fans throw two other names around as possible transfers.
If you are Addison O'Grady and Hannah Stulke, how would you feel if Bluder brought in a post player from the transfer portal?
A medical retirement can be awarded scholarship dollars and not count against the limit. However, they can't ever play again.
I've seen it happen most often in football -- scholarship guy gets a career-ending injury. Stays on scholarship, gets moved to "non-counter" status, and ends up working with the team in some capacity until graduation.
Here’s the deal. If Iowa were to place a player on a medical retirement, she can maintain her athletic scholarship and would not count toward the team’s limit of 15. Per the UI, “This individual is not eligible for practice or competition but can still be part of the program. They can serve as a student assistant coach, which allows them to be part of the team on a regular basis and sit on the team bench during competition.”
However, once a player is deemed a non-counter due to medical reasons, she would be ineligible to return to competition at Iowa. If she did, Iowa would be required to retroactively count her scholarship toward the team’s max of 15.
So, placing Jones on a medical retirement would be a last resort and an acknowledgment that she wouldn’t be able to ever play college basketball. Iowa could take a year to assess things, then opt to go down that road. Or it could find a way to make Jones a basketball walk-on as a freshman while she redshirts and could ensure her scholarship support from other avenues, such as NIL opportunities. At this point, options are plentiful but imperfect.
Apparently there is an exception: you can play again, but not for the university you medically retired from. So Jones could medically retire, but if she decided she did want to play she'd have to transfer out.
EDIT: Based on @Three4Cy 's post above, it looks like there's an exception to the exception -- you can play for the same university as long as there's retroactive space on the roster.
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I'm guessing this is extremely tricky, if not impossible. She was recruited to play basketball at Iowa, so I don't believe she can get other university scholarships without being a counter. Also, a Letter of Intent was signed, so I don't believe Iowa can pull that scholarship even with her permission. Also, if this were possible, schools would be doing it for players who are not injured -- "Hey, walk-on here, and we have an NIL deal that will cover your costs!" I'm sure the NCAA will consider that a scholarship deal and will count them.
As long as Jones wants to reserve the ability to play basketball in the future, she is not an exception to any NCAA rules and must be treated just like any other student-athlete.
Decent rule, doesn't rule out a "comeback" but prevents schools from abusing it like pro teams do with the injured list in baseball to get around roster limits.
Maybe not?
BYU's Walk-On NIL Deal Is Key To Keeping Players From Entering Portal - KSL Sports
Name, image, and likeness dealls are helping BYU retain talent.
kslsports.com
Guess what? If you ever want to be competitive enough to actually win a Championship, then you have to recruit over people currently on your team. You have to be that cutthroat. I'm fine if you don't want to do it, but that is what it takes to win a championship more likely than not. I'm not a fan of it, but here we are.