McCaffery chooses words carefully when discussing new Iowa recruit

New Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery had to choose his words carefully while speaking at the Iowa men's basketball banquet Sunday night.

To a crowd of about 100 at the Coralville Marriott, McCaffery spoke glowingly about the role his current players had in bringing in a new recruit to the Hawkeye fold. Only, McCaffery couldn't say his future player's name.

“We had a young man who came here on an official visit. He spent a lot of time with each and every one of them (the players),” McCaffery said. “For him, it is a unique situation. He's signed with us, but we don't have the paper work so I can't mention what his name is, but it's already in the papers so I think everybody knows.”

At 2:47 p.m. Saturday, Melsahn Basabe announced on Twitter he was joining the Iowa men's basketball team.

“It's Official ... Im an Iowa Hawkeye now” Basabe tweeted. McCaffery originally recruited Basabe to Siena but when McCaffery left Siena for Iowa, the 6-foot-7 forward from Glen Cove, N.Y. who played at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Mass., asked for his release from his letter of intent.

McCaffery carefully avoided mentioning Basabe's name - or any name - when talking about the signed recruit. But McCaffery reiterated his current players were pivotal in bringing the signed recruit to the Iowa fold.

“What got him to say yes was the experiences that he had with each and every one of my players that told him this a great place,” McCaffery said. “It's a great place academically, it's a great place socially. The people that you will meet, that you will work with, will genuinely care about you. When he went home, I remember because when he got on the airplane, I knew he was going to sign. He didn't sign here, but he did sign as soon as he got home after talking it over with his mother.

“I just want to publicly thank the players for the job they've done ... as we move forward we're going to get this thing done.”

Basabe is one of three confirmed recruits for next season. Iowa originally signed four players to letters of intent last fall - forward Zach McCabe of Sioux City, guard Devyn Marble of Detroit, guard Ben Brust of Mundelein, (Ill.) and Cody Larson of Sioux Falls (S.D.). Brust and Larson both were released from their scholarships after former Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter was fired. Larson since has signed with Florida, while Brust on Friday was granted a Big Ten waiver to sign with any league school on scholarship. Brust originally was denied a chance to earn a Big Ten basketball scholarship per league rules.

With sophomore forward Aaron Fuller leaving Iowa reportedly for USC, Iowa now has three available scholarships for next season. Brust still has a scholarship offer from Iowa, along with offers from Wisconsin, Northwestern, Boston College and others.

At the banquet, senior guard Devan Bawinkel was honored as the latest Chris Street Award winner. Street was killed in a car accident in 1993, and the award goes to the player who best exemplifies Street's spirit, intensity and enthusiasm. Of Iowa's final roster, only Fuller and John Lickliter didn't attend the banquet.