By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Whenever somebody commits to the Iowa men’s basketball team, it’s always a big deal to Hawkeye fans.

But when it’s a four-star point guard who has multiple Power 5 scholarship offers, as is the case with Dasonte Bowen, the hype climbs to another level.

Bowen’s verbal commitment to Iowa on Wednesday is considered a huge victory for Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.

Iowa currently has two point guards on the roster who have a combined seven years of eligibility remaining in Joe Toussaint and Ahron Ulis, and yet, the 6-foot-3 Bowen, still picked the Hawkeyes.

Bowen apparently loves competition, and he probably was told during the recruiting process that guards are interchangeable in Fran McCaffery’s fast-paced offense.

The fact that Bowen is 6-3 means he probably could shift over to shooting guard and play alongside Toussaint or Ulis.

All that matters right now is that Bowen, who is a senior at the Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, turned down multiple Power 5 scholarship offers to commit to Iowa. He said thanks, but no thanks to Maryland, Georgetown, Miami (Fla.), Boston College, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, Seton Hall, USC and Virginia Tech among others.

That’s an impressive list of suitors, and combined with Bowen’s ranking as a four-star recruit by ESPN and 247 Sports, the hype is unavoidable.

I’ve been asked where Bowen ranks among Fran McCaffery’s greatest recruits, and what it means for the future of Iowa basketball, and my answer is simple: let’s wait and see.

You could take Bowen’s ranking from a literal sense and compare it with other four-star recruits who have played for McCaffery at Iowa, and then also compare their scholarship offers.

That’s one way to determine where Bowen’s commitment ranks, but it’s impossible to know what it means for the future of Iowa basketball.

So much of recruiting coverage these days is making bold statements and trying to predict the next star while being swept away by the moment.

Commitments are covered like the first moon landing, which has to be thrilling for recruits.

I used to climb aboard the hype train, but now I try to avoid getting carried away with hype and bold predictions because it just puts undue pressure on recruits to where if they don’t become stars, they often are considered a bust.

Bowen is certainly an intriguing prospect, from his size and athleticism to his scholarship offers and national ranking, he checks a lot of the boxes from a recruiting hype and expectations standpoint.

To have landed a prospect of this stature is good work by Fran McCaffery and his staff, and reason for excitement.

I will go that far.

But to say where it ranks overall, and what it means for Iowa’s future would only be unnecessary guess work.

Bowen just finished his junior year of high school.

His time to prove himself will come, with or without my hype