Would be petty to cheer against him though.
Watch out, if you are saying you wish Campbell the best there will be some posters who tear you to pieces for cheering for him.
**** Official 2026 MBB Spring Transfer Portal Thread ****
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Watch out, if you are saying you wish Campbell the best there will be some posters who tear you to pieces for cheering for him.
Different people may place a different importance on being a lifetime legend at there school. That's just as true at college as it is in high school. Like a real life Al Bundy.
I like it.
Defense - As good as last year - crazy to predict because Jefferson, Lipsey and Heise were so so so good, but there are a few reasons why. Not every newcomer comes in and has the effort or knowledge to get TJs defense well enough to be a rotation player in year one, but I would say at least half do. With 9 newcomers, I assume at least 4 will be good enough to be rotation players when just looking at defense. That means at least 8 guys who fit that bill, plus maybe 1 or 2 more newcomers. Also, Mitchell definitely has the effort and the knowledge of TJs defense. Or at least TJ thinks he is close. If TJ didn't think he did, he would be gone. No reason not to run him off if you have 14 scholarship players on the roster. So I am sure that if he earns playing time, his defense will be fine.
Three point shooting - just fine if folks are open. Plenty of guys with a history in the mid 30s or better. Batemon, Johnson, Prather, Bond.
Rebounding - could be achilles heel, but with so many newcomers, could be improved. Maybe Kiss is a stud rebounder from day one. No reason Bond and Prather couldn't be elite rebounding wings.
Who creates his own shot? No sure thing but lots of options. Improved Toure or Batemon. Prather. Johnson maybe? Bond unleashed? Sophomore Singleton? Sophomore stud recruit Mitchell? Certainly not all of them but feel okay someone will step up.
Kiss and Dorien are luxuries. If either of them are able to crack the rotation, they are displacing solid rotation guys. Buchanan and Pleta are solid.
Can you imagine if 3 of 4 freshman hit like this year. Won't happen but if it did, wowza.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
I'm not expecting much of the freshmen now that we have so much depth. Rinaldo-Komlan may need a year to develop, same with Kiss, and Gray is coming off an injury plus there's a lot of guard depth already. Wiggins seems the most ready to get into the rotation right away.
Assume Defense is still top notch. No reason not to.
Now what if Toure and Batemon both get better on offense end? Not unreasonable to play better year two. Nobody is going to shoot like Milan, but if Toure shoots better and transfers pan out this Team could be much more varied from 3. And Pleta has upside scoring a bit inside.
Team may not have returning stars but better depth and very dangerous if pieces gel
Now what if Toure and Batemon both get better on offense end? Not unreasonable to play better year two. Nobody is going to shoot like Milan, but if Toure shoots better and transfers pan out this Team could be much more varied from 3. And Pleta has upside scoring a bit inside.
Team may not have returning stars but better depth and very dangerous if pieces gel
Gray looked fantastic before getting hurt, hoping he has a full recovery. May end up redshirting 26-27, though a formal redshirting declaration may be moot if current proposals get enacted.
I believe his injury was a torn labrum and it was late season- sometime in February. I’m not sure if it was in the hip or shoulder- labrum injuries can be either. They are not fast recoveries- my guess is he won’t be ready to go in June when everyone gets to campus for summer workouts. As an incoming freshman learning a new system, especially the defensive rotations in the trapping, no middle scheme, it will set him back if he’s not ready to go from day one.
I just wish I could see that first week of practice when a guy nicknamed Bully keeps bringing the ball up the court against Killyan. I think TJ is secretly planning his cage match.... maybe he's even gonna do a pay per view event?
Not trying to kill the vibe, but if he ends up redshirting, I expect he won’t ever play at ISU.
Last 4 guys who redshirted (for injury or otherwise), J Williams, Hamilton, Rock, and M Williams all transferred with 0 (or minimal in Rock’s case) minutes played. TBD if Mitchell sticks around for another year
We all love Lipsey and he’s a cyclone legend but Johnson is an overall better scorer than Lipsey and can create his own shot a bit better, if anything there shouldn’t be a dramatic drop off between Lipsey to Johnson is my read - not saying better than Lipsey but he looks solid.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
True, though comparing Lipsey to anyone is tough because Tamin was at 99 in intangibles.
Yup, exactly the types of players Otz likes to recruit. I'm sure they, and the freshmen, know about the summer workouts and want to be pushed to improve their games. Hopefully, the name "Shot Doctor" is accurate and he helps all of us them improve their shot. Of course, even with an improved shot, there will still be an adjustment shooting it against higher level competition but they will adjust toward the end of the season.
The "Shot Doctor" will hopefully help improve everyone's shooting %, especially Toure and Pieta. Based on last year's numbers, several players may hit or exceed the 40% mark.
Pieta showed indications of having a nice low-post game and with more strength, could be more consistent down low. That's the one thing I don't readily see in the team: who can be a low post threat to help open up the perimeter as Jefferson did last year?
One thing obvious from the national championship tourney. The really great teams have rim protectors that make it extremely difficult to score near the basket. Our bigs lack the strength and quick jumping ability to score much inside.
It’s a man’s world within 3 feet of the basket. There is almost no such thing as a layup anymore.
You realize like every successful program does that stuff, right?
It isn't some secret deal that TJ unlocked and, believe it or not, elite athletes are pretty damn driven people that thrive in the situations.
This would be a huge get for them. They lacked a true 5 all last year…need height!
Fits the Frannie McC profile well....
Speaking of Iowa - Finley Bizjack chose WVU over Iowa
I'm very curious to see who they end up with as a replacement for Stirtz.
McCollum hasn't coached without Stirtz since before COVID, basically. How much of the success was coach vs the PG?
I'm very curious to see who they end up with as a replacement for Stirtz.
McCollum hasn't coached without Stirtz since before COVID, basically. How much of the success was coach vs the PG?
At the risk of getting jumped on, I think if Iowa adds this St. Mary's center and finds a solid, experienced PG, with their returners, they will be pretty solid, similar to last year. Beat everybody they should, maybe pick off a home upset over an upper level Big 10 team, make the tournament as a 8-11 seed.
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