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Josh Oglesby broke the ice today when he became the first in-state player to commit to sign with the Iowa basketball program since the hiring of coach Fran McCaffery.
The commitment is significant for several reasons beyond the fact that the 6-foot-5 swingman from Cedar Rapids Washington will fill the first of four scholarships McCaffery has available for the 2011 recruiting class.
There is considerable talent on the high school courts in Iowa in both current and upcoming seniors classes. It’s important for Iowa to not only be involved in the recruitment of those players but to land some of that talent.
McCaffery seems to have a real understanding of that.
Iowa welcomed Oglesby to campus for his official visit on the weekend of Sept. 10.
Two highly-recruited players from the Sioux City area, Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell, joined another top prospect, Linn-Mar junior Marcus Paige, in Iowa City the same weekend.
Iowa’s ability to successfully recruit players with that level of ability will be important as McCaffery and his staff work to turn Iowa’s basketball fortunes around.
While it is wishful thinking that all of the top talent will remain inside the state’s borders to play at the next level, success typically starts close to home where players bring not only talent, but a passion for the institution, into the fold.

Basketball recruit Tyler Harris is scheduled to visit the Iowa campus this weekend, arriving on Friday and staying through the home football weekend.
The 6-foot-8 forward from Dix Hills, N.Y., has visits scheduled for next month at Providence and North Carolina State. He’s also considering St. John’s.
Harris will get a look at future potential teammates Saturday when Iowa hosts another shirts-and-skins basketball game. The informal intrasquad typically tips off around 8:30 a.m. prior to 11 a.m. home football games.

The Iowa-Iowa State football weekend is also one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the fall for the Hawkeye basketball program.

Josh Oglesby, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Cedar Rapids Washington, will be making his official visit to the Iowa campus this weekend.
Oglesby averaged 16.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season for the Mississippi Valley Conference school. Over the summer, he was named to the all-tourney team at the Fab 48 Tournament in Las Vegas.
Oglesby has trimmed his list of potential colleges to four and the visit to Iowa is his first official visit. He is also expected to travel to Illinois, Minnesota and Arizona State before deciding where he will sign during the November signing period.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery has four scholarships available for the 2011 recruiting class.
Oglesby won’t be the only potential future Hawkeye on campus this weekend.
Three highly-regarded preps from the Class of 2012 are also scheduled to make unofficial visits to Iowa City this weekend.
That group includes Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar and a pair of Sioux City area standouts, Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell.
All will likely be in attendance on Saturday when the current crop of Hawkeyes hold another shirts-and-skins scrimmage.
That event is scheduled to begin around 11:30 a.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, three hours before the football game kicks off.

Among the spectators at Saturday’s Iowa-Eastern Illinois football game and the shirts-and-skins basketball scrimmage prior earlier in the day will be a pair of Hawkeye basketball recruits making visits to Iowa City.
Aaron White, a 6-foot-7 forward from Strongsville, Ohio, and 6-10 David Kravish of Lee’s Summit, Mo., are both expected to visit the Iowa campus this weekend.
White averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists last season for Strongsville High School. In addition to Iowa, he has Wisconsin, Butler, West Virginia and Duquesne on his radar.
Kravish plays for a team at Lee’s Summit North High School in suburban Kansas City that reached the quarterfinals of the Missouri state tourney in the state’s largest class last spring. Kravish averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds last season. He currently lists California, Iowa, Colorado, Creighton and Wichita State as his top five college possibilities.

Fans will get their first chance to see the 2010-11 Iowa basketball team on the court together on Saturday when a shirts-and-skins game – a long-time Iowa tradition – is held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 8:30 a.m. prior to the Hawkeyes’ 11 a.m. kickoff against Eastern Illinois.

The shirt-and-skins games typically last around an hour and are open to the public free of charge.

Newcomers Melsahn Basabe, Bryce Cartwright, Devyn Marble and Zach McCabe won’t be the only new faces on the floor.
The Hawkeye roster posted on the university’s website includes four walk-ons who will give new coach Fran McCaffery 14 players to work with as his first season in Iowa City begins.

Here’s a quick breakdown:
Cody Cox – He’s a 6-foot-4 freshman wing who prepped at Waterloo West and averaged 9.6 points per game last season.
Jordan Stoermer – Is a 6-2 guard from Iowa City West who spent the past two seasons at Kirkwood Community College. Stoermer has been a regular in the Prime Time League in recent years. He averaged 10.7 points as a sophomore at Kirkwood, where he has been an all-region selection the past two years.
Darius Stokes – The son of former Hawkeye Greg Stokes is a 6-7 forward who averaged 5.7 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block while shooting 51 percent last season for Linn-Mar.
Branden Stubbs – Is a sharp-shooting 6-2 guard from Pleasant Hill, Iowa. He was selected as the Iowa Class 2A player of the year last season and was a four-time all-conference selection during his high school career at Des Moines Christian. He finished with 2,145 points at the high school level, which ranks in the top 20 all-time among Iowa preps. Stubbs got a taste of what lies ahead in the Prime Time League this summer.