Iowa's prep hoops talent talks college recruiting

DES MOINES - The Class 4A part of the boys' state basketball tournament begins, and the Division I coaches start showing up.

Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson strolled around the Wells Fargo Arena floor after Wednesday afternoon's session. Cedar Rapids Washington wing Josh Oglesby said coaches from Florida, West Virginia and Virginia were in town to watch him play.

Well, maybe not just Oglesby. The potential college players in action included Linn-Mar's Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon, Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Jarrod Uthoff and Sioux City East's Adam Woodbury.

Bohannon, Uthoff and Oglesby are juniors, Paige and the 6-foot-11 Woodbury sophomores. And we're not even counting Ames' Harrison Barnes (North Carolina) and Doug McDermott (UNI).

“I'm not in any hurry at all to commit,” Woodbury said. “I'm just looking forward to the process and how everything happens. Just enjoy it.”

Woodbury said he has offers from Iowa, Iowa State and Nebraska, with Utah and Minnesota recruiting him hard. Paige said he has offers from Iowa, ISU, UNI, Illinois and Minnesota. He added he'll probably decide during his junior year.

Oglesby, a 6-5 shooter, was offered by UNI before this season started, with the interest continuing to pick up.

“A variety of schools, mostly Missouri Valley (Conference). Florida, some Big 12 schools,” he said. “My goal is to put on about 25 pounds for next year ... I'm just really excited about the off-season, especially with AAU coming around.”

The rail-thin Uthoff had an early offer from Albany and said Wednesday that Northern Iowa and Northern Colorado have joined the offer list. Bohannon has offers from Albany and Air Force, where his brother, Zach, is a freshman.

“I'm not sure, yet,” Uthoff said, when asked when he will commit. “Probably spring, but I don't know, I'm not sure. It's a tough decision.”