Ohio guard Maishe Dailey signs with Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The state of Ohio has been good to the Iowa men’s basketball program since Fran McCaffery became head coach in 2010.
It is the home state of former all-Big Ten forward Aaron White, who played at Iowa from 2011-15, and for current Hawkeye forward Ahmad Wagner, who should be a key contributor as a sophomore next season.
Ohio is also home to Iowa’s newest recruit as 6-foot-6 wing player Maishe Dailey signed a national letter of intent with the Hawkeyes on Wednesday.
I'm officially an Iowa Hawkeye ??????
— Maishe Dailey (@_mdailey15) May 4, 2016
"The deciding factors would have to be how the coaching staff saw me on their team, offensively and defensively," Dailey said. "It was exactly what I dreamed and envisioned."
The Beachwood, Ohio native was previously committed to Rutgers. But Dailey’s plans changed in March after Eddie Jordan was fired as the Rutgers head coach in the wake of a 7-25 season.
Iowa didn’t start recruiting Dailey until after he had severed ties with Rutgers in March.
Dailey also reportedly had over 20 scholarship offers from schools that included George Mason, Northern Iowa, Winthrop, Akron and Ohio.
"Northern Iowa recruited me the hardest, than Florida and Providence," Dailey said.
Dailey averaged 13.2 points per game as a senior this past season and is ranked as a three-star prospect by most recruiting services. He also was named second-team all-state in Division III in Ohio by the Associated Press.
"The thing that impresses me the most about Maishe is his overall skillset,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said in a release. “He’s a multiple position player who can drive, pass, shoot, and handle the ball. He has tremendous athletic ability who can play above the rim. He can play an up-tempo game, but also has enough skill to play in the half-court.
“Maishe is a young man with impeccable character and we are thrilled to welcome him to the Hawkeye family.”
Wagner, who is from Yellow Springs, Ohio, hosted Dailey on his recruiting visit last weekend. Wagner praised the family atmosphere at Iowa and the bond that exists between the players and fans.
"The basketball side spoke for itself with their constantly improving record and team play," Dailey said. "They just told me that it was a family atmosphere from the guys on the team to the fans in the arena.
"And when I came in contact with some Iowa basketball fans, the players’ word stood true."
Dailey is the fifth high school senior to join Iowa’s 2016 recruiting class, and the second from out of state.
The class also has 6-8 forward Tyler Cook from St. Louis, Mo., 6-8 Cordell Pemsl from Dubuque Wahlert, 6-9 Ryan Kriener from Spirit Lake and 6-1 Jordan Bohannon from Linn-Mar. They all signed national letters of intent with Iowa during the fall signing period in November.
Dailey projects as either a shooting guard or small forward in college.
Tyler Devine contributed to this report