IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery announced the addition of four new recruits on Wednesday for national signing day. Jordan Bohannon, Tyler Cook, Ryan Kriener and Cordell Pemsl all put pen to paper making them officially Hawkeyes.

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from speaking about prospects until they sign their national letters of intent. So the following videos and transcripts are the first time McCaffery was able to tell outsiders what he felt he picked up in this group.

JORDAN BOHANNON
6-1, 170 Point Guard
Marion (IA) Linn-Mar High

McCaffery: I’ve been watching Jordan play since he was in middle school, so I have a different perspective of him. I felt like he started to get national recognition this summer, and I thought it was long overdue, personally. I have had the luxury of seeing him more than most people because he ends up playing against my sons at times that would be a dead period.

But I can be at the game because my son’s playing. They play against each other, and they play together in Las Vegas when they were in 8th grade. He’s an unbelievable shooter, and that’s a good place to start. But for us to make the decision to sign him here, because I’m looking at him as an impact guy. It had to be the total package. He’s a really good passer. He’s got unbelievable savvy on the floor, and he’s got a great mind for the game. He thinks the game. You can see that at an early age that he thought the game. At a unique level that would prepare him to be successful at the Big Ten level.

TYLER COOK

6-foot-7, 240 pounds Power Forward

St. Louis Chaminade College Prep School

McCaffery: We’ve been recruiting Tyler for quite some time. He’s special in a lot of different ways, starting with his character. He comes from a phenomenal family and he really understands how to play. He understands how to be great. What I see in him is as great as he is; I see even greater potential, because he’s played primarily the power forward position most of his life.

You take one look at him, and you know that’s why he’s there, but there’s a lot more in his game. He can handle the ball, he can run, he can make plays off the dribble, he can shoot the ball, and that’s the kind of player that I envisioned. Somebody that has the flexibility to play in transition and play on the perimeter, play in the post, and impact the game in so many different ways.

RYAN KRIENER (pronounced KREEN-ir)

6-foot-10, 240 pounds Post

Spirit Lake (IA) High

McCaffery: Ryan is a guy that we started watching early. I saw him when he was young, and we always liked him. Thing that’s impressed me about him is he just keeps getting better, and the way he performed this summer really elevated himself in our eyes because he always had great size and he also has versatility.

So when you have a five-man who can play the four position, but can also make threes, and he can dribble and pass, that’s a game changer when you have big, strong guys that can do that. You have to have, in my opinion, five guys that can dribble the ball and pass the ball and catch the ball today in our game. Otherwise you’re going to see a lot of different kinds of defenses.

That’s really what we love about him. The other thing is he wanted to be here. He wanted to be a Hawkeye, so we’re thrilled that he is.

CORDELL PEMSL

6-foot-8, 240 pounds Combo Forward

Dubuque (IA) Wahlert High

McCaffery: Again, another guy who is big and strong, but he can score inside and he’s very gifted and he’s a tremendous rebounder, but he can really dribble and pass. He likes to play on the perimeter. He can score outside perfect, I think, in our style.

With regard to his injury, it was something that we didn’t know about when he first committed to us. Obviously, he didn’t have any problems and then subsequently has had them. But I think it’s been rectified. He’s in a great place right now. He had a surgery that I think will correct any future problems. Of course, you never know, but it really looks like he’s in a good place physically right now, and there is no doubt in my mind that he’s going to have a great impact for a long time.