JP Estrella had his expectations in mind when he arrived in Iowa City for an official Hawkeye basketball visit this week. The actual journey exceeded his vision on and off the court.
“I am really happy with this program after my visit,” the four-star big man in the 2023 class of Wolfboro (NH) Brewster Academy and Middlesex Magic AAU programs told HN.
“Coach[Fran]McCaffery has done a great job and Iowa City is great. It’s clear the fans love the Hawkeyes. And there weren’t as many cornfields as I expected.I really like the town.”
Estrella (6-11, 210) has nothing against corn. He loves Iowa’s basketball and city for being more than vegetables.
“The visit was amazing. I got to see everything Iowa has to offer and hang out with a lot of people. I really enjoyed everything about it and some I was able to meet some wonderful people,” he said.
Going into the week, Iowa was thought to be chasing Estrella against Duke. He was due to visit the Blue Devils right after his stop in Iowa City.
He will make an official visit to Syracuse on August 4-6. He is considering visiting Kansas.
“After my next visit[to Syracuse]I should know very well where I am. I will take some time to think about it and discuss it with my family and coaches,” Estrella said.
Hawkeyes have done their best the last few days. Fran’s son, junior forward Patrick McCaffrey, hosted Estrella. They spent time with the entire team, but in his sophomore year he spent time with Payton Sandfort and his younger brother Pryce Sandfort.
Estrella and Price Sandfort will probably round out the ’23 class in Iowa. Owen Freeman and Brock Harding are famous verbal pledges already in the group.
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“Pat was such a bubbly guy and so much fun. I enjoyed being with him, Peyton and Price. It was great to have the whole crew together.
Estrella and his parents watched a game movie for about two hours with Fran McCaffery. The coach showed JP how they planned to use him in the system.
“He taught me that I can do whatever I want. said Estrella.
Estrella watched two practice and weightlifting sessions in Iowa.
“I got a good feel for how they do things and how they run their programs,” he said.
On the second day of her visit, Estrella saw the academic side of Iowa.
“The people there were great and really helpful. The staff pointed me to some great resources that business students could use,” he said.
Estrella plans to major in sports management.
As was the case with Garza, Iowa could benefit from believing in Estrella’s talent before some blueblood programs were called up. Hawkeyes offered him his first postgraduate scholarship in December. Duke, Louisville and Kansas were all offered in his June.
Rivals and 247 rank Estrella as a 4-star prospect. The former counts him as his 53rd recruit nationally, regardless of his 23-year position, and the latter counts him as his 62nd overall player nationally in the cycle.
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