Iowa claims late hoops commit in 3-star Ohio guard

If it seems like Iowa’s newest men’s basketball recruit is joining late ... well, Maishe Dailey is a late-bloomer.

The 6-foot-6 wing announced his 2016 verbal commitment to coach Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes on Wednesday afternoon from his high school in Beachwood, Ohio.

Dailey didn’t have a single Division I scholarship offer one year ago. He's now leaping back into Big Ten talk after de-committing from Rutgers in March.

“When it all clicks, (Dailey) definitely has the potential to be a steal for Iowa,” said David Cassilo, a recruiting analyst from Cleveland for the Prep Hoops Network. “He is a player that has a lot of potential and could be a starter or rotation player around his sophomore year or so. Early on, he’s going to have to build up his body and could potentially redshirt.”

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Dailey — his first name is pronounced "May-she" — is claiming an open roster spot many Iowa fans figured would be saved for the team’s next point guard, either through a ready-made graduate transfer or someone from the prep ranks.

Instead, the athletic and still-developing Dailey will move from suburban Cleveland to Iowa City as the Class of 2016’s fifth recruit. He committed to Rutgers in January but did not sign a National Letter of Intent.

“I consider my IQ, passing and shooting to be my strengths,” Dailey told the Asbury Park Press when he committed.

“They will really try to utilize my shooting, because I think that is my strongest asset. And because I’m 6-foot-6 and still growing, I have an advantage over some other players.”

Minor injuries and late development slowed the three-star prospect’s initial recruiting buzz.

But once Dailey earned consistent minutes on the summer AAU circuit, the process turned into a whirlwind. He played for the All-Ohio Red, the same program as Iowa sophomore-to-be Ahmad Wagner.

“At the high school level, he was definitely a plus-defender who could guard multiple positions,” Cassilo said. “Beachwood liked to play small, so he had to guard a lot of bigger players. But he could also guard smaller players as well.

“And he’s really good at creating his own shot and working off the dribble and getting to the basket.”

Dailey went from zero offers to 20 — mostly from mid-major teams — in less than a month, ahead of a senior season in which Beachwood would go 22-3 and reach Ohio’s Division III district finals.

Dailey re-opened his recruitment one week after Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan was fired. He briefly reclassified to 2017 to better examine his growing options. He and his prep coach, Matt Miller, have kept their school selections quieter since sticking with 2016 and de-committing from Rutgers.

“I think a lot of this was, he realizes that he’s grown and everything is all coming on recently,” Miller told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “He realizes he needs a little more physical development. A lot of this has come from high-major schools.”

But as a weekend visit to Iowa City and Wednesday’s announcement showed, Dailey now has the high-major offer he was looking for.

He’ll be one of five prep players in Iowa’s current class of 2016: St. Louis-based four-star forward Tyler Cook, Dubuque Wahlert’s all-state post Cordell Pemsl, Linn-Mar shooter Jordan Bohannon, and skilled Spirit Lake big man Ryan Kriener.

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“Last year was really the first time Maishe put together a full season at the high school level and he played pretty well,” Cassilo said. “There were definitely flashes of greatness. He’s a good leader and can do a little bit of everything.”

The regular Division I signing period for men’s basketball is open until May 18.