Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball: Estrella and Sandfort Enjoy Visit

Fran McCaffery and his Iowa Hawkeyes hosted two big-time basketball recruits the weekend of July 30th. Pryce Sandfort had the short trip from Waukee, Iowa, while JP Estrella hails from Maine and now New Hampshire. Sandfort and Estrella would join Iowa’s 2023 class that already includes Owen Freeman and Brock Harding.

Pryce Sandfort

6’7”, 190 lbs

Waukee, IA (Waukee HS)

Sandfort no doubt has witnessed first-person the family vibe from the Iowa Hawkeyes. Keegan and Kris Murray and Connor and Patrick McCaffery have excelled playing alongside their brothers. It’s a pretty unique situation. It would be special for Pryce and Payton to play together at the Division One level. Like his brother, Pryce can shoot it. He has been described as, “possibly the nation’s best shooter.” Here are some highlights from Pryce’s junior year.

Sandfort has nice handles, he looks to attack the basket (typically going right) and is a sneaky-strong finisher. His jumpshot is quick and it is shot from pretty high, much like his brother’s. That is tough to defend. Sandfort has a scorer’s attitude and confidence. Sandfort also has nice length. He is a good rebounder and he is able to get blocks and deflections as he plays intelligent position defense. He’s a perfect fit for a Fran McCaffery team. Sandfort has really blown up this summer. It has been mentioned a few times that college coaches get excited about him and then learn that Fran has Pryce’s brother on the team. Iowa basketball is a family affair. Come on down, Pryce!

JP Estrella

6’11”, 210 lbs

Wolfeboro, NH (Brewster Academy)

If the name Brewster Academy sounds familiar, it should. Iowa’s incoming point guard Dasonte Bowen played for Brewster Academy last year. Brewster Academy has won seven national prep championships. Brewster also can boast that it has had 19 alumni play in the NBA. Estrella’s game is once again a prototypical Fran McCaffery recruit. He has nice footwork, he runs the court very well, he can shoot the three, he has a soft touch in the paint, and he is an active offensive rebounder; many of his points are the result of being in the right place at the right time and converting missed shots. Here is some previous film.

Estrella has a visit to Syracuse planned. He cancelled a visit to Duke. Hmmmmmm. He has mentioned that he may make his decision shortly after his Syracuse visit. Here is more video of Estrella (#13 in dark jersey) going head-to-head against 6’11” Ugonna Kingsley (#34 in blue jersey). Kingsley just committed to play ball for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Getting even one of these two recruits to join Freeman and Harding would make for an excellent class. Getting both would be Fran’s best recruiting class to date. Iowa basketball is trending in the right direction. Basketball players like to play an up-and-down game. Fran McCaffery allows his guys to run and play freely. Recruits are also seeing Tyler Cook, Luka Garza, Joe Wieskamp, and Keegan Murray in the League. That had been missing for many, many years for this program. These verbals and recruits added to Josh Dix and Dasonte Bowen could lead to big things at Carver Hawkeye over the next number of years. As always, Go Hawks!