It’s been a long time since there has been this much hype heading into an Iowa WBB season. The Hawkeyes are ranked #9 in the pre-season AP poll, and return 7 of their top 8 players from last year’s Sweet 16 team.
I will have more to say about Iowa’s new additions and the 2021-2022 season between now and the November 9th opener against New Hampshire, but for now, let’s take a look at Iowa’s returning players.
Caitlin Clark | 6’0'’ | Sophomore | West Des Moines, Iowa
26.6 ppg—7.1 apg—5.9 rpg—40.6% from 3—85.8 ft%
Caitlin Clark is a generational talent. Last season, she recorded one of the best freshman seasons in college basketball history, leading the country in points per game, three-pointers made, and total assists. And there’s good reason to believe she will either match or exceed those lofty numbers this season.
Offensively, Clark can do it all. She constantly looks for her shot, and can score at all levels. She takes some of the most difficult three-pointers I’ve ever seen, and even makes those at an elite rate. And when teams try to double her or overcommit to help defense, she finds her open teammates for good shots. She even rebounds exceptionally well for a point guard.
While Clark is elite at many areas, there are also ways she can improve her game. That starts on the defensive end, where she ball-watches too much, and doesn’t use her athleticism to force as many steals as she likely could. Offensively, she turns the ball over more than she should, often because she forces passes or drives. And her shot selection isn’t always the best, despite her great shooting.
The good news for Iowa fans is that Clark is aware of those issues and is working to improve them. Like the rest of the Iowa team, she has committed to improving her defense. And offensively, her shot selection and turnover numbers should improve as she gains more experience.
Clark is already one of the best players in college basketball. If she manages to improve her weaknesses, the sky is her only limit.
Monica Czinano | 6’3’' | Senior | Watertown, Minnesota
19.3 ppg—5.8 rpg—66.8% from field—68.0 ft%
Last season Czinano shot 4.5% better from the field than any player in college basketball. It’s not hyperbole to say that she is the most efficient post scorer in the country. She also developed a great chemistry with Clark, and the two are deadly on the pick and roll plays that Iowa calls fairly often. Czinano is a leader on the team, and was named one of the team’s captains for the season.
Like Clark, offense is Czinano’s strength, but she needs to improve in other areas. The most noticeable of those is defense. Czinano blocked only 18 shots in 30 games last season, and generally isn’t much of a defensive threat in the post. She is generally slow with her rotations, and isn’t good at challenging shots or stopping penetration.
One of the big problems with her defense is a fear of foul trouble. Czinano struggled with fouls quite a bit early in her career, and last season often did not challenge shots due to fear of getting a foul. And while Iowa is a better team with Czinano on the floor, it also needs to improve defensively if it wants to make a deep postseason run. That starts with Iowa getting a better defensive effort from its 5.
Czinano also needs to contribute more to Iowa’s rebounding effort. She made improvements in rebounding last season, jumping from 5.0 per game as sophomore to 5.8 per game as a junior. Even with that improvement, Czinano ranked behind Clark in rebounds per game. A team’s point guard should never out-rebound its center. A better rebounding effort from Czinano this year should help Iowa finish more stops and help get a few more 2nd chance points on offense.
Like Clark, Czinano is an elite player even with the weaknesses in her game. She has been an All-Conference selection the last two seasons, and should be this year too.
McKenna Warnock | 6’1’' | Junior | Madison, Wisconsin
12.0 ppg—8.0 rpg—3.1 apg—45.1% from 3—80.0 ft%
Warnock is a contrast to Clark and Czinano in that she excels in a lot of areas that aren’t flashy. The biggest of those is rebounding. Warnock is easily the team’s best rebounder, and does especially well at grabbing defensive rebounds to close out stops. She is also a steady defender who often has to cover a ton of ground in whatever defense Iowa is playing.
Offensively, Warnock is one of the best three-point shooting forwards in the country. Her shooting is crucial to Iowa’s offensive spacing, which allows Clark and Czinano plenty of room to work. She is also decent at taking her defender off the dribble, and can score well without needing to take a ton of shots.
Unlike Clark and Czinano, I don’t think there are a ton of obvious weaknesses in Warnock’s game. She’s an elite shooter, and rebounds really well for her position, but otherwise is steady in most areas. Hopefully she will keep improving and play a big role in Iowa’s continued success.
Kate Martin | 6’0'' | Redshirt Junior | Edwardsville, Illinois
7.0 ppg—4.4 rpg—4.0 apg—35.4% from 3—84.4 ft%
For two seasons now, Coach Lisa Bluder has called Martin the leader of her Hawkeye team. She is Iowa’s only returning captain, and like Warnock impacts the game in areas that don’t always make it into the stat sheet.
Offensively, Martin is a great passer. She is good at driving to the basket, and grabbed the team’s second most offensive rebounds last season. She also shoots well from 3, and doesn’t need to take a ton of shots. Defensively, Martin is probably Iowa’s best perimeter defender, and she was third on the team in steals.
Iowa has more depth on the wings than it has had in a while, but Martin will still likely be a starter and significant contributor for this Iowa team.
Gabbie Marshall | 5’9'’ | Junior | Cincinnati, Ohio
9.1 ppg—2.1 rpg—47.1 % from 3—85.7 ft%
Marshall is one of the best shooters in college basketball. Generally her role in the offense is to knock down the open threes that she gets and to be a threat to shoot that helps with offensive spacing when the ball isn’t in her hands. She also contributes as a ball-handler.
Though Marshall doesn’t typically take a lot of shots in most games, she has shown the ability to take over. Against Rutgers last year in the Big Ten Tournament, Marshall had 22 first half points and 27 overall to lead Iowa to its quarterfinal win. Having your fourth best scoring option be able to take over a game like that is a luxury that most teams simply don’t have.
Marshall also has an impact on the defensive end, as she lead Iowa with 57 steals last year. Once every few games, you will see her steal an in-bounds pass from an opponent and get an easy basket or possession.
And while Marshall has a significant impact on both ends of the floor, she is also fairly limited. Offensively, Marshall isn’t great at driving to the basket, and also isn’t good at finishing when she does drive. Defensively, she isn’t the fastest defender, and sometimes struggles with her on-ball defense. Marshall will need to improve in those areas for Iowa to move from a good to an elite team.
Tomi Taiwo | 5’10'’ | Senior | Carmel, Indiana
3.7 ppg—1.6 rpg—40.0 % from 3
Taiwo became Iowa’s sixth woman last year, and will likely play a significant role off the bench again this season. Offensively, Taiwo is a good shooter and is good at driving to the basket. She is also one of the team’s primary ball-handlers when on the court.
Defensively, Taiwo is one of the team’s most athletic defenders, and might be able to help with Iowa’s goal of improving its defense if she continues to improve.
Sharon Goodman | 6’3'’ | Sophomore | Lime Springs, Iowa
3.7 ppg—2.1 rpg—55.0% from 2—82.8 ft %
Goodman’s freshman season reminded me a lot of Monika Czinano’s a few years ago. She played a relatively small role in backing up an All-Conference center, but did well in that role and never looked in over her head.
Offensively, she shot the ball relatively well, especially from the free throw line. She also contributed well rebounding and showed some defensive potential, ranking third on the team in blocks despite playing less than 1/3 of the minutes of the two leaders in that category.
Coach Bluder has said that the biggest growth in a player’s game generally comes between their freshman and sophomore seasons, so I was excited to see how Goodman would look this season.
Unfortunately, that won’t happen now. Goodman suffered a torn ACL in the pre-season, and will miss the 2021-2022 season. Hopefully she will make a quick recovery and will be back to full health when the 2022-2023 season rolls around.
Logan Cook | 6’1'’ | Senior | Iowa City, Iowa
22 games—1.9 ppg—2.0 rpg—63.0% from 2
Cook played in 22 games last season, mostly as the backup 4 to Warnock. She also has experience as the backup 5 in her career.
The best word to describe Cook’s game is dependable. She fills her role well defensively, fights hard for rebounds, and doesn’t turn the ball over. While all of those are great traits—especially for a backup—Cook is also offensively limited. She isn’t a huge low-post scoring threat, and has not made a three-pointer since her freshman season.
With both of Iowa’s starters back at the 4 and 5, Cook will likely see time this season as the backup 4 or backup 5. Goodman’s season-ending injury has opened up minutes at the backup 5, and so far, Coach Bluder has said that Cook is the favorite to fill those minutes early in the season. Iowa does have two freshman Top-100 recruits that can play the 4 or 5, though, so Cook might have to fight all season to keep her place in the rotation.
Shateah Wetering | 6’0'’ | Sophomore | Montezuma, Iowa
21 minutes played as a Freshman
Unfortunately for Iowa, Goodman’s injury wasn’t the last of the pre-season. Just before media day, the team announced that Wetering had also torn her ACL and would also miss the 2021-2022 season.
Wetering was an athletic yet raw player out of high school who could contribute at either the 3 or 4 positions at Iowa. She played just 21 minutes during her freshman season, though, in part that was due to injuries. This was going to be an important season for her to see if she could find a role in Iowa’s regular rotation. Now she won’t get that chance.
