The latest on several highly-touted ’25 Iowa targets

While many will be taking in their fair share of fireworks for the 4th of July over the next few days, the Iowa Women’s Basketball team is trying to make their own fireworks on the recruiting trail. The calendar has flipped to July, which means are not so far away from seeing some final decisions made by some highly-rated ’25 recruits. The Early Signing Day period isn’t until December, but we could see some commitments prior to the beginning of the high school season.

6’5 center Layla Hays (Wasilla, AK) has made a couple of officials visits over the past week, giving us a bit of a look into who is amongst her finalists. Hays took an official visit to Indiana over the weekend and was at Illinois for an official early this week. She has now taken official visits to Iowa, Gonzaga, Indiana and Illinois.

A source told HawkeyeReport earlier in the summer that Hays, a four-star, #63 overall player in the ’25 class by ESPN, was having some trouble cutting down her list of schools that she was considering. It appears that she is starting to make some headway with her recent visits. So that begs the question, where do the Hawkeyes stand with Hays at the moment?

A source tells HawkeyeReport that the coaching staff is comfortable with where they stand with Hays and are in consisent contact with her and her family. Although she would be eligible to take a second official visit to Iowa due to the head coaching change, I was told, at least for now, that staff feels like that second visit is not needed. Since the beginning of her recruitment, Jan Jensen has been her primary recruiter, so they have built a strong relationship. The coaching change did not have as big of an impact on her recruitment as it might for some because that relationship was already established.

“She is so inspirational, and really makes me feel cared about in every conversation,” Hays told HawkeyeReport after her official visit back in February. “You also can tell how much she loves the people around her, and how she’s really affected the game of basketball.”

Also noteworthy, her aunt Leah Magner played at Iowa and spent her final two seasons playing for then assistant coach Jan Jensen. One of Magner’s teammates when she was a junior? Senior team captain and new Iowa assistant coach Randi Henderson. Can’t hurt to have those extra connections.

Next up is 6’0 point guard Emilee Skinner (Millville, UT). The coaching staff has identified her as one of the top players in ’25 cycle and On3 agrees, with Skinner rating as the #5 overall player in their newly debuted top 25. Although Skinner has kept her recruitment pretty much airtight, the Hawkeyes are really pushing to land her. She took an official visit to Iowa back in March and has also taken reported unofficial visits to Utah, North Carolina, Arizona and Utah State. It is worth noting that the Hawkeyes just added UNC Director of Recruiting Operations Sean Sullivan to the coaching staff, so Skinner very likely has already developed a relationship there.

Emilee is the other recruit that has the option of taking a second official visit to Iowa if she wants to. I haven’t heard any details on if the staff is looking to get her on campus again, but if they feel like it is needed, the option is on the table.

Finally, we have 6’1 guard Jordan Speiser (Warrenton, MO). She came in as the #18 player in the On3 top 25 and is arguably the best player on her loaded All Iowa Attack EYBL team. Just because the coaching staff is pushing to land Emilee Skinner, doesn’t mean that they aren’t recruiting Speiser anymore. When it comes to recruiting, you can never put all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak, unless you want to risk being left empty-handed. Speiser’s recruitment has gone pretty much silent since she visited Kansas State back in October. That being said, her top 11 finalists includes Iowa, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas State, Notre Dame, TCU, Ohio State, Utah, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Minnesota.

For those that will worry about a doomsday scenario where Skinner and Speiser commit elsewhere, the Hawkeyes could opt to offer 6’0 guard Libby Fandel (Cedar Rapids, IA) if push came to shove. Fandel has visited Iowa a number of times and has recently made a big jump in the recruiting rankings, coming in as a four-star, #41 overall in the latest ESPN top 100. She has recently added scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, TCU, Kansas and Wisconsin.

Many have brought up and discussed capitalizing on the opportunity that Caitlin Clark, back-to-back national championship appearances and sold out crowds can give you on the recruiting trail. Landing Addison Deal (#14 overall by On3) was a big deal and keeping her committed through retirement of Lisa Bluder was massive. At one time a top 40 recruit, Journey Houston dropped in the rankings (#74 overall by ESPN) after tearing her ACL in the winter, but she still has high four-star upside, despite what the rankings say. It’s a great start to the ’25 recruiting class, but now, Jan Jensen must land another player or two for it to be considered an elite class. The next few months will be critical for Jensen and her staff.

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