Here are players Iowa men’s basketball is recruiting

Latest update: Dec. 22

On June 9, Iowa men’s basketball coach McCaffery got a verbal commitment from 2022 recruit Dasonte Bowen of Worcester, Mass. He added one on Sept. 11 from guard Josh Dix of Council Bluffs.

On Oct. 11, 6-9 Owen Freeman of Bradley, Ill., committed to join Iowa’s recruiting class of 2023. Information about him is listed below.

Here is a rundown of other players Iowa has been recruiting, with a lot of help from friends and strangers. This will be updated with each piece of new information.

Class of 2022

Luke Hunger, 6-10, 250, Montreal

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery went to Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Mass., on Sept. 15 to watch Hunger work out.

“They started talking to me back in May,” Hunger told Hawkeye Report.

“I’m not a super flashy dude. I like to pattern my game after Luka Garza and I watched Iowa play a lot. Maybe, hopefully they see a little bit of him in me and I think that’s why they were here to watch.”

Hunger has visited Richmond, and was scheduled to visit Miami Sept. 18-19.

Cameron Fens, 6-9, 215, Dubuque

Took an unofficial visit to Iowa Oct. 16.

Class of 2023

Pryce Sandfort, 6-6, 165, Waukee

Drake was Sandfort’s first offer, in July. Iowa came in with an offer on Oct. 17.

He is the brother of current Hawkeye freshman Payton Sandfort.

Parker Friedrichsen, 6-4, 165 pounds, Bixby, Okla.

Iowa offered Friedrichsen a scholarship on July 25. He has offers from Oklahoma State, Illinois, Purdue, Oklahoma, Drake and Virginia Tech. He took an unofficial visit to Oklahoma on Sept. 18. He visited Missouri in late October.

He visited Iowa on Oct. 15-16.

JaQualon “JQ” Roberts, 6-7, 196. Bloomington, Ind.

Iowa offered Roberts a schollie on Oct. 29, and he took an unofficial visit there on Dec. 21.

Indiana and Butler are among other offers.

JP Estrella, 6-10, South Portland, Maine

Iowa offered Estrella a scholarship on Dec. 17. Other offers include Boston College, Providence, Syracuse and Tennessee.

Here is a video of Estrella.

Xavier Booker, 6-10, 215. Indianapolis

This is another case of running with the big boys.

Booker got an offer from Iowa on June 15. He got offers from Ohio State and Louisville around the same time, and has previous offers from Kansas State (June 28 visit), LSU and Purdue, among others. Indiana is a player, as well. Illinois and Michigan State joined the fray.

He visited Iowa Oct. 15-16.

TJ Power, 6-8, 210, Shrewsbury, Mass.

This lefthander got an Iowa offer a year ago. He also has offers from Miami, UConn, Penn State, Oklahoma, South Carolina and others.

He visited Iowa Oct. 15-16.

Matas Buzelis, 6-9, 190, Willowbrook, Ill.

Buzelis was part of a large group of players who visited Iowa Oct. 15-16.

He attends Brewster (N.H.) Academy, a favored recruiting haunt for Fran McCaffery.

He has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and many others, including Duke.

Onyekachi Nzeh, 6-9, 235 pouunds, Upper Darby, Pa.

Iowa offered Nzeh a scholarship on Sept. 28. He got offered by Maryland a week earlier, and had prior offers from Miami, Penn State and Creighton, among others.

Gus Yalden, 6-8, 240 pounds, Appleton, Wis.

Another big one, another tough get. Yalden attends IMG Academy in Florida. Iowa offered him a scholarship last July. Hawkeye Nation reported he made an unofficial visit to Iowa on June 12, a day after visiting Nebraska. He also has visited Wisconsin and will visit Louisville.

Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Arkansas, Rutgers, Arizona, Notre Dame, and Virginia have all reached out to Yalden recently. He is a top-20 junior-to-be.

Taylor Bol Bowen, 6-9 forward, Jericho, Vt

Could Iowa have two Bowens? Why not, it had a good one in Ryan Bowen back in the Tom Davis era.

Like Dasonte Bowen, Taylor Bol Bowen is at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., which also is where current Hawkeye Josh Ogundele played. Iowa offered Bol Bowen a scholarship in April 2020 when he was a high school freshman. Offers from Penn State, Rutgers, LSU, Connecticut, Arkansas and Providence have followed. Ohio State, Oregon, Kentucky and USC have also entered the fray.

Bol Bowen’s wingspan is 7-1. He is a high-level prospect, a 5-star according to some.

“Iowa was my first high major offer and I’m thankful they’re a part of my recruitment process,” Bol Bowen told Stockrisers.com in April. “Iowa’s coming off a very successful season too and I look forward to seeing what’s more in store.”

He was born in Egypt, grew up in Vermont, spent two years at a Rhode Island high school, then moved on to Brewster.

He made his first college visit, an unofficial one, to Connecticut.

Bowen is No. 25 on the latest ESPN.com rankings of the 2023 class.

No Vermonter has ever played in an NBA game. Bowen wants to be the first.

Omaha Biliew, 6-8, 205 pounds, Waukee

This is a big one, and a tough, tough get. Five-star recruits don’t spring up in Iowa all that often. In fact, the last one was Harrison Barnes in 2010. Barnes just finished his ninth season in the NBA.

Iowa offered Biliew a scholarship in 2019. When he was an eighth-grader. I wonder if IBM or Cardiff Electric ever offered jobs to eighth-graders.

Biliew was born in Omaha, but moved to Waukee when he was 5. He was a teammate of Hawkeye freshman Payton Sandfort at Waukee. He will transfer to Link Year Prep School in Branson, Mo.

He took an unofficial visit to Iowa June 7 and took one to Iowa State on June 16.

Biliew said he wants to make an official visit to Nebraska in the fall for a Huskers football game. He will be in Ames Saturday for an unofficial visit to Iowa State, coinciding with the Iowa-ISU football game.

Kentucky, Gonzaga and Ohio State have conversed with him. Did I mention he’s a 5-star? He’s been put in top 10s of the 2023 class by people who make such lists. For all we know, he’ll go straight to the pros.

Biliew is No. 7 on ESPN’s latest rankings of 2023 recruits.

Taison Chatman, 6-3, 170 pounds, Minneapolis

Nearly all of Minnesota’s best prep players have left the state in the last few years. Will Chatman be another?

The shooting guard certainly has options. Louisville has offered him a scholarship. So has Nebraska. He heard from Iowa and Iowa State on June 14. As well as Arkansas, UCLA, Ohio State, Memphis, and several others including Minnesota.

Reed Sheppard, 6-2, 170 pounds, London, Ky.

Iowa has offered. So have many others. This is a Top 50 recruit.

Sheppard averaged 20.6 points per game as a freshman and 30.1 as a sophomore at North Laurel High. His parents both played basketball at Kentucky.

Cam Christie, 6-3, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

He got an offer from Iowa on June 16. He’s a shooting guard who was offered by Michigan State and Ohio State last year. His brother, Max, happens to be a freshman at Michigan State who was a 5-star recruit.

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery, as well as Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Illinois’ Brad Underwood, watched Christie play in Indianapolis on July 25.

Marquette is the latest to offer Christie.

Nolan Winter, 6-9, Lakeville, Minn.

Winter made an unofficial visit to Iowa the last weekend of September. He has been offered by Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon State and Stanford.

Gavin Griffiths, 6-7, 180, Simsbury, Conn.

The Hawkeyes have made the East Coast almost as much a recruiting area as the Midwest.

Iowa offered Griffiths on June 29. Syracuse, Massachusetts and Siena were the first ones to do so. Rutgers, Maryland and Kansas State have followed.

Asa Thomas, 6-6, 185, Lake Forest, Ill.

This wing is a fast-riser, who got an Iowa offer on June 30 after Illinois, Northwestern and Wisconsin also offered.

Santa Clara offered him, too.

Reid Ducharme, 6-5, 175, Boston

Another Brewster Academy player. Iowa offered him on June 15. He’s a shooting guard/small forward.

He has many other offers, including Virginia, Oklahoma, Stanford and Georgia. Ducharme’s first offer was from New Jersey Institute of Technology, in 2019.

Aaron Clark, 6-6, 182, Easton, Pa.

From the hometown of former boxing champion Larry Holmes. Clark got an Iowa offer on June 15. Rutgers and LSU offered the same day.

Marquette is in on him, too. And Xavier.

Bronny James, 6-3, 180. Los Angeles

He’s the son of LeBron James. Iowa’s not in the mix, but wouldn’t it be something if it were?

Class of 2024

Cooper Koch, 6-7, Peoria, Ill.

This sophomore-to-be got a scholarship offer from Iowa in May.

His father, J.R. Koch, played for the Hawkeyes in the 1990s. J.R. has coached his son for five years in travel ball.

Wisconsin, Wake Forest and Bradley have also offered Koch.

Kon Knueppel, 6-4, 180. Milwaukee

He’s a shooting guard who got an Iowa offer in July. Wisconsin offered Knueppel a scholarship in August.

Others who have offered include USC and hometown school Marquette.

Caleb Middleton, 6-10, 195 pounds. Dover, N.H.

Iowa offered Middleton a scholarship on June 28. DePaul did so a year ago when he had just finished eighth-grade.

He visited Iowa Oct. 15-16.

Liam McNeely, 6-7, 190 pounds. Richardson, Texas

Iowa offered McNeely a scholarship on July 24 after the player had received other offers from Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M. Georgia Tech and Mississippi.

Here’s a little info on McNeely.

Jack Robison, 6-5, 170. Lakeville, Minn.

Robison, a shooting guard, paid an unofficial visit to Iowa the last weekend of September with Lakeville North teammate Nolan Winter. He has offers from Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Tayshawn Bridges, 6-2, Brookfield, Wis.

Maryland, Florida State and Auburn are among Bridges’ other offers.

Andre Mills, 6-3, Braintree, Mass.

Iowa offered Mills on Nov. 21.

His other offers include Rutgers, Providence and Seton Hall.

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