Bowen Born

He's going to put up good numbers in the Valley. Just not a Power 5 guard.

Am I the only one that thinks the same of Caleb Grill?

Grill may not be a star in Power 5, but he can be a very good contributor. Seems like too many people think if a guy isn't a huge contributor as a freshmen, he's no good for a Power 5. See Naz Long. Grill's freshman season is very similar to Naz's.
 
Yeah I think we missed on him. I was not sold on him and you can see my posts regarding him on this thread. Thought he was to short. However, I have watched Norwalk play several times this year and he can light it up. We could really use his shooting. The only way we can recruit him now is after he goes to UNI if he decides to transfer. Otherwise its a violation.

Yeah, we don't have any needs for someone that can really light it up. heavy sarcasm
 
Grill may not be a star in Power 5, but he can be a very good contributor. Seems like too many people think if a guy isn't a huge contributor as a freshmen, he's no good for a Power 5. See Naz Long. Grill's freshman season is very similar to Naz's.
A huge difference being that Naz didn't have to play nearly as much his freshman year as Grill is currently playing. Naz averaged 6.9 (nice) minutes per game, and played in 18 games his freshman year. Grill is averaging 10.8 minutes per game, and has already played in 16 games.
 
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Grill may not be a star in Power 5, but he can be a very good contributor. Seems like too many people think if a guy isn't a huge contributor as a freshmen, he's no good for a Power 5. See Naz Long. Grill's freshman season is very similar to Naz's.

Have you seen the expectations around this board? There can’t be any “solid contributors”. We need above average to all conference level players 6 deep to get to the level people think we should be at every year.
 
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A huge difference being that Naz didn't have to play nearly as much his freshman year as Grill is currently playing. Naz averaged 6.9 (nice) minutes per game, and played in 18 games his freshman year. Grill is averaging 10.8 minutes per game, and has already played in 16 games.

I will say, to be fair to the other side, that Naz was stuck behind --

Babb
Clyburn
Lucious
McGee
Palo

...which is a lot to have in front of you as a freshman guard.

On this team, the minutes are there if Jackson or Grill would show much more, and they have already been eroding into Nixon's playing time.

Haliburton and Bolton are going to play 35+ per night, but after that, it is still wide open. Neither of the freshman have absolutely seized on that.

If they cannot make an impact under those circumstances, then we might need to adjust our expectations slightly, but they are at about where I thought.

Jackson has shown flashes of being a good 3&D guy. His shooting is just really streaky right now, which you expect with a freshman working on the jitters. Grill is still working on slowing the game down, but he plays hard and seems to be learning.

That is about what I expected out of those guys with their rankings.

It won't. Reminds me of the McDoormat era when ISU didn't offer Doug even though it was obvious to anyone who watched Cap City League games that he could play at ISU...

Nobody thought he was going to be one of the greatest college players of all-time.
 
I will say, to be fair to the other side, that Naz was stuck behind --

Babb
Clyburn
Lucious
McGee
Palo

...which is a lot to have in front of you as a freshman guard.

On this team, the minutes are there if Jackson or Grill would show much more, and they have already been eroding into Nixon's playing time.

Haliburton and Bolton are going to play 35+ per night, but after that, it is still wide open. Neither of the freshman have absolutely seized on that.

If they cannot make an impact under those circumstances, then we might need to adjust our expectations slightly, but they are at about where I thought.

Jackson has shown flashes of being a good 3&D guy. His shooting is just really streaky right now, which you expect with a freshman working on the jitters. Grill is still working on slowing the game down, but he plays hard and seems to be learning.

That is about what I expected out of those guys with their rankings.



Nobody thought he was going to be one of the greatest college players of all-time.

His own father didn’t even want him. That’s a knock on Greg himself not ISU basketball. Fred probably would have been after him because he would have been a better fit under Fred.
 
I will say, to be fair to the other side, that Naz was stuck behind --

Babb
Clyburn
Lucious
McGee
Palo

...which is a lot to have in front of you as a freshman guard.

On this team, the minutes are there if Jackson or Grill would show much more, and they have already been eroding into Nixon's playing time.

Haliburton and Bolton are going to play 35+ per night, but after that, it is still wide open. Neither of the freshman have absolutely seized on that.

If they cannot make an impact under those circumstances, then we might need to adjust our expectations slightly, but they are at about where I thought.

Jackson has shown flashes of being a good 3&D guy. His shooting is just really streaky right now, which you expect with a freshman working on the jitters. Grill is still working on slowing the game down, but he plays hard and seems to be learning.

That is about what I expected out of those guys with their rankings.



Nobody thought he was going to be one of the greatest college players of all-time.

All he needed to be was an ISU player that could positively contribute and that was obvious...
 
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I will say, to be fair to the other side, that Naz was stuck behind --

Babb
Clyburn
Lucious
McGee
Palo

...which is a lot to have in front of you as a freshman guard.

On this team, the minutes are there if Jackson or Grill would show much more, and they have already been eroding into Nixon's playing time.

Haliburton and Bolton are going to play 35+ per night, but after that, it is still wide open. Neither of the freshman have absolutely seized on that.

If they cannot make an impact under those circumstances, then we might need to adjust our expectations slightly, but they are at about where I thought.

Jackson has shown flashes of being a good 3&D guy. His shooting is just really streaky right now, which you expect with a freshman working on the jitters. Grill is still working on slowing the game down, but he plays hard and seems to be learning.

That is about what I expected out of those guys with their rankings.



Nobody thought he was going to be one of the greatest college players of all-time.
Yeah I'm not making the excuse of Naz not playing his freshman year or saying he was bad, but he worked a ton, and I mean a ton on his game between his freshman and sophomore year.

He wasn't ever known as a 3pt shooter, and actually was a PG, but was in the gym working that off season working on his 3pt shot and developed into an absolute sniper for us that year.
 
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Yeah I'm not making the excuse of Naz not playing his freshman year or saying he was bad, but he worked a ton, and I mean a ton on his game between his freshman and sophomore year.

He wasn't ever known as a 3pt shooter, and actually was a PG, but was in the gym working that off season working on his 3pt shot and developed into an absolute sniper for us that year.

Yeah, if we want to be good next year, then I hope all the guards/wings and the freshmen spend all offseason just shooting until it hurts.
 
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His own father didn’t even want him. That’s a knock on Greg himself not ISU basketball. Fred probably would have been after him because he would have been a better fit under Fred.


I would hypothesize that by the time Greg realized his son was a legit high major player, he also knew it was too late for him at ISU.

You would want your kid to avoid being a part of a likely coaching change in that situation.
 
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Yeah, we don't have any needs for someone that can really light it up. heavy sarcasm
Yes, because being guarded by and guarding 6'1" or under guards from DCG and Pella is the same as being guarded by and guarding 6'2"- 6'4" guards from Baylor and Kansas.

The likelihood that at his size he'd be able to play at the Big 12 or Big 10 level on a nightly basis is very slim. People rag on Prohm all the time for recruiting misses but some think taking a 5'11" kid is the answer to our scoring problems bc he can really score in Iowa 3A basketball?
 
Yeah, if we want to be good next year, then I hope all the guards/wings and the freshmen spend all offseason just shooting until it hurts.
I'm sure Prohm knows that. He talks about 3 point shooting all the time so I'm willing to bet that's something that will be harped on in the off season.
 
A huge difference being that Naz didn't have to play nearly as much his freshman year as Grill is currently playing. Naz averaged 6.9 (nice) minutes per game, and played in 18 games his freshman year. Grill is averaging 10.8 minutes per game, and has already played in 16 games.


nice
 
I don't want to hate on Born and I hope he succeeds at UNI. The staff evaluated him and decided he wasn't worthy of a B12 scholarship and I will not consider it a miss simply because he gets a Mr. Basketball award. In addition no other P6 program offered him a scholarship is evidence enough to me that the staff is right and he wouldn't get minutes for ISU.

Taking Bowen means not taking one of Walker or Dubar both of which are more are better prospects in the staff's and other staff's eyes per the rankings and offers. There is an opportunity cost that should be ignored.

As for they should just take a Iowa Mr. Basketball regardless. ISU is at a recruiting level the cost of taking a player and hoping they develop into contributors in 2-3 years is not in the cards. Those 2-3 roster spots should be held for use on grad transfers who mid-majors developed and can contribute immediately once eligible.
 
He's still only 5'11".

He better be ridiculous at something to play in the Big 12 at that height.

Even getting a shot off is going to be hard at that height.


He is ridiculous at shooting at basketball. Which if you have seen us play lately is something we need. He also shoots most of this three pointers from NBA range in high school. Also, please see Phil Forte for someone who is the same size and was ridiculous at shooting and playing the game.

Saying that I will say this. He seemed like a UNI recruit before this year started. I think he has gotten to be a big 12 recruit. Just because no high majors offered does not mean he won't be good. High Majors miss on kids like him all the time.

One other thing. His dad was underrecruited and got way better after going to Nebraska Omaha for 2 years. So we shall see how Bowen does at UNI.
 
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