Cameron Fens had Tuesday’s game at Iowa City West circled on his calendar.

The 6-foot-11 big man from Dubuque Hempstead in the Class of 2022 is on Iowa’s recruiting radar and he knew that the Hawkeye coaches, including head coach Fran McCaffery would be front and center watching the game.

He was and Fens played what he called his best overall game of the season, pouring in a game high 23 points in Hempstead’s 71-54 upset win over Iowa City West.

Fens set the tone right out of the gate with a thunderous dunk on the first basket of the game and that set the tone for his teammates.

“I came out and had a dunk to start the game and that gave us momentum. I was really proud that we never really lost that momentum,” Fens said.

The Hawkeyes have been watching the in-state big man more closely since this summer and while not offering at this point, Iowa has invited Fens down this fall for a visit during a football weekend and continue to stay in contact with the big man.

“They are really happy with the way I am playing and they keep saying that they could possibly offer this spring,” he said. “I am just going to keep staying patient. That’s hard to do at times when you are a senior and you hear about other players committing, but you just have to stay patient.”

Fens said that he speaks with Coach Billy Taylor on a regular basis and more frequently than Fran McCaffery. They have told him he’s welcome to come to Iowa City for games any time he would like and he plans to continue to take advantage of those invitations this season.

One thing that has happened in the past few months is recruiting interest from other schools has ramped up. Fens said that in addition to Iowa, he is hearing from UNI and plans to visit Cedar Falls in a few weeks. He’s also hearing from South Dakota, Indiana State, and Creighton.

“Things are starting to pick up a lot more from other schools, but I am going to stay patient.”