Aneesah Morrow news stinks for the Hawkeyes

I hate to state the obvious, but the latest transfer news really, really stinks for Iowa women’s basketball.

Last year was a wonderful year for the program. They reached heights never seen in Iowa City. They were so close to winning the national championship, unable to defeat a roaring LSU Tigers team. Yet there was nothing to be ashamed of. Caitlin Clark and Co. broke records by bringing women’s basketball to a new audience.

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With Clark back for another year, hope was extremely high for the Hawkeyes heading into the offseason. Sure, they lost big star Monika Czinano, but now we have a transfer portal! A stacked transfer portal, may I add. The one where you could make a list of national championships. Surely Iowa could lure a star to partner with Caitlin Clark and try to usurp LSU next year, right? LAW?!

No! You are absolutely wrong! Hope you had fun with the NCAA Tournament party last year because all of that is gone now. You see, normally the team that wins the national championship is not supposed to improve.

However, LSU decided to buck that trend and build one of the greatest rosters in women’s basketball history. It’s on paper, of course. We didn’t see them play, but come on now. People tried to argue that Kevin Durant going to the Warriors wouldn’t work, and they only ended up winning two more NBA Finals with him.

So the defending national champion LSU Tigers isn’t just keeping stars Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams. Now, through the transfer portal, they’re adding star guard Hailey Van Lith and All-American Aneesah Morrow.

Let me repeat this to you.

The defending national champions just added an All-American and a proven NCAA Tournament star, while retaining the 2023 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

I’m not going to criticize Morrow or Van Lith for their decisions, because frankly, that would be childish and stupid. The object of this game is to win, to be great. This LSU team has the chance to become one of the greatest teams ever assembled, a team that we look back on 15 years from now and say, “How the hell did we let this happen?” It’s probably the best decision for their career. Kudos to them. Go do your thing.

For Iowa, this looks like a tough reality check. Of course, we will have our years. There will be times, like last year, when we find that magic and fight for the big one. Eventually, however, the game will reset. Some teams will use their advantages in NIL, with the transfer portal, to capitalize and create a super team.

Meanwhile, we’ll always be lil ol’ Iowa. We’ll try to cope and talk about doing things the right way, character and hard work, but at the end of the day, this is the new way to do college sports. It’s an unfair game, especially if you’re not ready to conform at the time.

The game is the game though, and sometimes it really stinks. It looks like the same punch when Kadyn Proctor returned to Alabama. This is my final summary of this situation. It really stinks for us. Let’s see how we respond.

Several other people felt the same way and shared those feelings on social media.