Iowa inks 4, adds to young basketball roster next year

IOWA CITY - Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery has been blessed the past three seasons with an experienced basketball roster filled with high-character players.

After this season, Iowa loses four seniors who have combined for 260 career starts. Only three scholarship upperclassmen are slated to play on next year's team. So it's imperative for McCaffery to land recruits who not only can play, but are good character people.

Wednesday, Iowa inked four players beginning with the 2016-17 class. They include 6-foot-1 point guard Jordan Bohannon (Linn-Mar), 6-10 center Ryan Kriener (Spirit Lake), 6-8 forward Cordell Pemsl (Dubuque Wahlert) and 6-7 forward Tyler Cook (St. Louis Chaminade). They blend with five true freshmen on Iowa's current roster - including Isaiah Moss, who is redshirting - and two red-shirt freshmen Brady Ellingson (6-4 guard) and forward Nicholas Baer (6-7).

In total, Iowa will have six guards, four forwards and a center who will compete as freshmen or sophomores net year.

'I think if you look at the different pieces, I think they fit,” McCaffery said. 'We'll get it figured out which ones sort of rise to the top and which ones are still solid for us. I mean, we've got to get productivity out of everybody that we sign, in essence. And sometimes you have in your mind this guy's going to be ahead of that guy, and it doesn't work out that way. But they're all good players, and most importantly, they're all terrific people.”

Cook is the prize catch of Iowa's 2016 class. He was a Rivals four-star recruit and rated No. 51 overall by ESPN. Iowa targeted Cook in his sophomore year at Chaminade, where he plays alongside Duke commit Jayson Tatum. As a junior, Cook averaged 13 points and six rebounds for Missouri's top-ranked Class 5A team for most of last season.

'You take one look at him, and you know that's why he's there, but there's a lot more in his game,” McCaffery said. 'He can handle the ball, he can run, he can make plays off the dribble, he can shoot the ball, and that's the kind of player that I envisioned. Somebody that has the flexibility to play in transition and play on the perimeter, play in the post, and impact the game in so many different ways.”

Kriener averaged 19.8 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 71 percent last year. While he adds size to the post, he also is versatile.

'When you have a five-man who can play the four position, but can also make 3s, and he can dribble and pass, that's a game changer when you have big, strong guys that can do that,” McCaffery said. 'You have to have, in my opinion, five guys that can dribble the ball and pass the ball and catch the ball today in our game.”

Pemsl has had multiple knee surgeries, including one to repair a torn meniscus and an osteotomy to straighten part of the bone and knee joint. McCaffery said Pemsl's surgery in May should rectify any future problems.

'(Pemsl is) another guy who is big and strong, but he can score inside and he's very gifted and he's a tremendous rebounder, but he can really dribble and pass,” McCaffery said. 'He likes to play on the perimeter. He can score outside perfect, I think, in our style.

'He's in a great place right now. He had a surgery that I think will correct any future problems. Of course, you never know, but it really looks like he's in a good place physically right now, and there is no doubt in my mind that he's going to have a great impact for a long time.”

Bohannon can play both point guard and shooting guard. His three older brothers either are playing or have played Division I basketball.

'I've been watching Jordan play since he was in middle school, so I have a different perspective of him,” McCaffery said. 'I felt like he started to get national recognition this summer, and I thought it was long overdue, personally.

'He's an unbelievable shooter, and that's a good place to start. But for us to make the decision to sign him here, because I'm looking at him as an impact guy, it had to be the total package. He's a really good passer. He's got unbelievable savvy on the floor, and he's got a great mind for the game. He thinks the game.”

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