Hoops Recruiting: A look at Iowa’s offers, Iowa State’s plans and prep updates

The Iowa basketball program has been busy over the last week handing out offers to players in the 2019 class. Since last Tuesday, at least five 2019 recruits — four forwards, one guard, all with sterling credentials — have garnered offers from the Hawkeyes.

Romeo Weems, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound forward, picked up an offer over the weekend. A product of New Haven, Mich., Weems is tabbed as a five-star recruit and No. 20 overall, nationally, by Rivals, and has also garnered interest from Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, among others.

Malik Hall, a 6-foot-5, 186-pound forward, received his offer on Monday. A product of Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kan., Hall is tabbed as a four-star recruit by Rivals, and also holds offers from Oklahoma and Illinois.

Marcus Watson, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound forward, boasts his own sterling credentials, too. The Buford, Ga., native is tabbed as a three-star recruit by Rivals and was named an Honorable Mention All-American by MaxPreps, along with Iowa City West’s Patrick McCaffery, who’s also an Iowa target.

Mark Watts Jr. — he goes by "Rocket" — picked up an offer the same day as Weems. Watts is a 6-foot-2, 160-pound combo guard, tabbed as a four-star player by Rivals and No. 73, nationally. He also has offers from Mississippi State, Michigan State and Georgia Tech, among others.

Armando Bacot picked up an Iowa offer midway through last week. Bacot is the No. 35 overall player in Rivals’ 2019 rankings. The 6-foot-10, 235-pound four-star forward has more than 20 offers to his name, including those from Kansas, Villanova, Miami and Harvard.

Additionally, DeLaSalle’s Tyrell Terry received an offer from Iowa early last week. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound point guard is considered a three-star prospect by Future 150 and recently helped the Islanders to a sixth-straight Minnesota state championship.

The quiet period for the 2017 basketball recruiting calendar resumes through July 5, interrupted only by the NBA Combine and a dead period from May 18-26. The next evaluation period is set for July 12-16.

Iowa State’s plans

The Register’s Randy Peterson offered a bit of good news to Iowa State basketball fans on Tuesday, reporting that Jeff Beverly, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound graduate transfer, is likely to become a Cyclone later this week.

“I will commit when I get there,” Beverly told Peterson. “I want to be a Cyclone. I can’t lie to you.”

Beverly is a power forward originally from League City, Texas. He’s spent the last two years at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In 33 games, he averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and an assist per contest. He shot 39.7 percent on 461 field-goal attempts.

More:Peterson: Cyclones hoops future bright ... but what about 2017-18?

The addition of Beverly is a welcomed change of pace for Iowa State, as the program’s missed out on the likes of Shakur Juiston (who chose UNLV), Daryl Edwards (LSU), Egor Koulechov (Florida) and Elijah Brown (Oregon). Beverly joins Marial Shayok from Virginia as transfers that chose Iowa State.

The Cyclones are also still in on Nebraska transfer Ed Morrow, who visited Iowa State last weekend. He is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh this coming weekend and has previously visited Marquette. He’s a sit-one, play-two transfer who averaged 9.4 points and 7.5 boards per game for Nebraska last year.

Basketball’s regular signing period goes until May 17. Until then, the Cyclones will continue to pursue other options. Junior-college transfer Davian Cole-Johnson has emerged as a target, and Princeton grad transfer Hans Brase listed the Cyclones among his final choices as of Tuesday morning.

An update on Drake

The Drake men’s basketball team has also kept busy during the regular signing period. The Bulldogs received a commitment from a local prep, and have doled out a handful of offers as well.

Newton’s Connor Gholson announced his commitment to the program last Friday. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 20.5 points for a Cardinal team that went 19-6 and reached the Class 4A state tournament this season. He shot 42.8 percent and recorded 127 boards and 21 steals.

Gholson was vital in Newton’s state quarterfinal game against eventual champion Iowa City West. He poured in 24 points on 10 of 20 from the field in addition to five boards and a steal in a 57-51 loss.

Drake also recently offered a pair of guards. Noah Thomas, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Australia, picked up an offer over the weekend. He was also offered by New Mexico. He is scheduled to visit Drake later this week before making his decision. He is a member of the 2017 class.

Javon Freeman-Liberty, a 2018 guard, also received an offer last weekend. A product of Whitney Young in Chicago, Freeman-Liberty is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who helped the Dolphins to the Class 4A Illinois state title over Simeon last season.

The Bulldogs did lose a player over the weekend — Johannes Dolven, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward from Norway, has decided to leave the program. The redshirt freshman played in nine games and took 14 total shots during his Drake career.

Preps who impressed

A handful of Iowa high school basketball players made their way to the NY2LA 2017 Spring Extravaganza in Minneapolis over the weekend. Many impressed the scouts and coaches in attendance.

Spirit Lake’s Owen Coburn, playing for Martin Brothers, was named one of the event’s top performers, according to contributing editor Nick Aiello. Coburn, a sophomore who stands 6-foot-10 and weighs 205 pounds, impressed with his comfort and effort in the post.

“Coburn really impressed with his ability to get up and down the floor and get himself into position at the blocks, imposing his 6-foot-10 frame on smaller opponents,” Aiello wrote. “He hit short-range shots, and he scored some strong buckets at the rim, on top of owning the defensive glass.”

Oskaloosa’s Cole Henry, also playing for Martin Brothers, was among Aiello’s stock boosters. Henry, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, flashed his versatility. He helped the Indians to a 15-9 mark and the Class 3A substate final last winter.

“Henry has some pieces to his game he put on display once again in Minnesota,” Aiello wrote. “He was explosive in the open court, finishing on the rim with authority, he made good decisions with the ball and was also a good shot from the three-point line.”

Other Iowa preps who played well include Ames’ Japannah Kellogg, playing for All-Iowa Attack; Cedar Falls’ Isaiah Johnson, for Martin Brothers; North Scott’s Corvon Seales, for Quad City Elite; Winterset’s Casey Kleemeier, for Kingdom Hoops; Grand View Christian’s Arturo Montes, for Kingdom Hoops; and Waterloo West’s Jaden Keller, for Martin Brothers.

Cody Goodwin covers high school sports, college basketball recruiting and Drake athletics for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.