Last week’s great migration leaves Iowa with several available scholarships for its upcoming recruiting classes. The losses of Jake Kelly and Jeff Peterson made it an absolute must for Todd Lickliter and his staff to add a point guard to the 2009 group.Signees Brennan Cougill and Eric May and commitment Devon Archie are about to get some more company.
Hawkeyereport.com reported at the end of last week that the Hawkeyes extended offers to 6-foot-2 guard Marcus Jordan of Whitney, Ill. (2009)--the son of someone you may have heard of, Michael Jordan, and 6-foot-6 forward Zach McCabe (2010) of Sioux City, Iowa.
Iowa is waving the help wanted sign at a number of jucos as well. Lickliter would still love to add the duo of Malcolm Armstead and Torye Pelham from Chipola Junior College. Armstead, who plans to visit Iowa City, would give the Hawks a nice point guard option and Pelham would be a great acquisition on the wing. Both are garnering more and more major college interest.
Armstead has recently received scholarship offers from Iowa, Arkansas and Providence, while Pelham holds offers from Oklahoma, Texas Tech and several mid majors.
According to rivals.com, Iowa also still has an offer on the table for 6-foot-2 point guard Darius Smith of Chicago. Smith reportedly has offers from Arizona, Arizona St., DePaul, Indiana, Kentucky and Marquette as well.
Returning to Jordan--Marcus that is--think of the positive effect his signing with Iowa would have. Getting MJ’s son would generate some good publicity for a program that needs it. Beyond that, Jordan can play. He holds offers from Miami (Fla.), Stanford, Butler and Central Florida in addition to Iowa. Arizona St., Oklahoma, Marquette and Clemson have also shown interest.
Rivals.com rates Jordan as a three-star prospect and espn.com rates him an 87 on a 100-point scale. Espn.com’s scouting report calls him “a very good glue-guy” who “has very good athleticism, leaping ability, and quickness.” The report also raves about his talents as a passer.
Securing Jordan would be quite a coup for Lickliter’s staff. It might help to stem some of the negativity surrounding the program and shore up a glaring need on the roster. Plus, it would be sweet to have thy royal airness in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Whether they get Jordan or not, they must move in a positive direction on the recruiting trail. Iowa has just nine scholarship players currently on the 2009-10 roster, counting Archie who has yet to sign.
Re-making the backcourt is the no. 1 priority. All unsigned juco point guards in the nation should take notice of Iowa. The Hawkeyes can offer immediate playing time to anyone who can man the point.
Read more about Jordan in the Chicago Tribune:
Michael Jordan son: Marcus Jordan sets sights on next level
(Photo of Marcus Jordan courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times).
I can't believe Lickliter is going after Marcus Jordan with any hope of actually landing him in the Iowa program. Anyone who watched what transpired last week, and especially with Jordan's status, is probably being told to stay far, far away from a program that projects to finish last next season. Players have expressed obvious concern over their lack of comfort with the roles established by Lickliter and it's hard to imagine Iowa having a roster with more than 10 guys next winter.
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