Iowa basketball: No players remain from class of 2015

Head coach Fran McCaffery is up and down with his recruiting abilities, but we can officially call the Iowa basketball team’s 2015 class a down moment.

With the announcement of redshirt junior Isaiah Moss’ transfer, it had me wondering who else was in his Iowa basketball recruiting class. Well to start, it was  Fran McCaffery’s biggest recruiting classes in his time in Iowa City with six players joining the Hawks.

Unfortunately, it was also one of his worst or at least the most disappointing.

Every single member of the Iowa basketball team’s class of 2015 is no longer with the program. Not a single player started and finished his collegiate basketball career with the Hawks.

Here’s the breakdown of each recruit in the class:

Dales Jones (3-star forward from Texas) – Jones spent just two seasons with the Iowa basketball team before graduate transferring to North Dakota after losing time to players such as Tyler Cook and Cordell Pemsl. Jones averaged 11.8 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Bison.

Christian Williams (3-star guard from Illinois) –  Williams lost his point guard job to freshman Jordan Bohannon just a few games into the 2016-2017 season and decided to transfer the following year to Indiana State. This past season was Williams’ first eligible season with the Sycamores, and he started in 23 games while averaging 7.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.

Isaiah Moss (3-star forward from Illinois) – Undoubtedly the most successful player of this bunch, but also one of the least appreciated despite his fantastic play. Moss is going to be sorely missed, and he will be a huge loss for the Iowa basketball team. However, this is a great decision for Moss to graduate transfer somewhere where he can go and be the number one option at another program.

Ahmad Wagner (3-star forward from Ohio) – In a shocking decision, Wagner decided to switch sports entirely and play for the Kentucky Wildcats football team. He is now a reserve wide receiver.

Andrew Fleming (3-star guard from Virginia) – Andrew Fleming was in Iowa City for just one year before deciding to transfer to Chattanooga. He spent one season in Chattanooga before deciding to transfer again. Now, with his third team in nearly as many years, Fleming is playing for mid-major Lipscomb University. In the last two seasons, Fleming has started just one game and is averaging less than 5 points per game.

Brandon Hutton (3-star forward from Illinois) – Like Fleming, Hutton left Iowa City quickly after just one year with the Iowa basketball team. He made his way to Indian Hills Community College before signing with Northwestern State. In two seasons with Northwestern State, Hutton has started 18 times, but he has never averaged more than 4.1 points per game.

I’m sure that is not exactly how Fran McCaffery saw the six-person recruiting class going when he signed all of these guys to the Iowa basketball program in the class of 2015.

With the classes spread out a bit more, it’s likely that we won’t see such a big class like this in the future, and if we do, let’s hope McCaffery gets it right this time.