Less than a week removed from an appearance in the National Championship Game, Iowa is using that momentum to its advantage on the recruiting trail. On Saturday afternoon, the Hawkeyes picked up a commitment from Teagan Mallegni (pronounced Mulaney) out of McFarland, Wisconsin. Mallegni is ranked #59th in ESPN’s Top 60 for the Class of 2024.
Mallegni is a 6’1" guard/forward. Last year, she averaged 24.5 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 4.8 apg, and 3.9 spg. She shot 34.5% from 3-point range and 53.9% on shots inside the arc. She joins fellow Wisconsin prep Taylor Stremlow as members of Iowa's 2024 recruiting class; Mallegni and Stremlow are rated as two of the top four prospects in Wisconsin in 2024, per Prep Girls Hoops.
We'll examine Mallegni’s game soon. For now, let’s dig a little deeper into her commitment and what it means for Iowa.
Committing Ahead of Schedule
Back in late February, Mallegni did an interview as part of an article for the Wisconsin State Journal. In the interview, Mallegni and her family mentioned that Mallegni planned to make four official visits to schools after her high school season ended.
“I’m hoping to make a decision or narrow it down to my top three before summer basketball starts so I can just play and not worry about it,” Mallegni said.
Mallegni’s commitment today is far ahead of that schedule. Iowa’s recent run to the national title game likely played a role in convincing Mallegni to move her timeline up.
Iowa’s 2024 class now sits at four players. Iowa has planned to take four players in the 2024 class, so if Mallegni had waited until the summer, Iowa might have gotten another commitment from a 2024 recruit, which may have left no room for Mallegni. Instead Mallegni made her decision now and Iowa was able to add another quality player to its 2024 recruiting class.
Offer Lists
Women’s basketball recruiting is different from men’s basketball and football in several ways. One is that Top 100 lists can be inconsistent indicators of quality. For recruits that commit late in the process, sometimes offer lists are a better indication of a player’s talent.
Mallegni has one of the best offer lists of an Iowa commit since Caitlin Clark. In addition to Iowa, she reported offers from Ohio State, Oregon, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Ohio State was an Elite Eight team this year. Duke was a borderline Top-10 team for much of the year. North Carolina was a Top 25 team. Oregon struggled this year, but was one of the top teams in the country a few years ago and has great facilities due to its association with Nike. Kansas won the WNIT this season. Iowa beat all of them for Mallegni’s commitment.
Nor is Mallegni the only 2024 commit with a solid offer list. Ava Heiden held offers from Utah, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Washington, and Nebraska. The Utes were a Top 10 team this season and a 2-seed in this year's NCAA Tournament. Washington State won the PAC 12 Tournament, while Oregon State was in the Final Four seven years ago. Iowa beat all of them despite also being the furthest school from Heiden’s home in Sherwood, Oregon.
But offer lists aren’t a be-all, end-all either. Women’s basketball is also different from other sports in that some recruits commit years before they graduate. Hannah Stuelke, for example, committed so early to Iowa that it was unclear which other teams also offered her. Stuelke ended up 45th in the 2022 class, but certainly seems better than that ranking.
2024 commit Callie Levin also committed early in the process. She held offers from Utah, Arkansas, Marquette, Iowa State, Purdue, Oklahoma State, and Drake. Her offer list might have gotten even better had she not committed to Iowa as early as she did.
Iowa's 2024 recruiting class now sits at four players: Teagen Mallegni, Taylor Stremlow, Ava Heiden, and Callie Levin.
