Four-Star PG Recruit Praises Iowa's Ben McCollum

"Their staff is really good," Gardner told Rivals' Jamie Shaw.

While he's still considering schools like Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, Texas, Cincinnati, among plenty of others, the Hawkeyes found a way to keep themselves in the running.

"Coach (Ben) McCollum, we had a Zoom, just showing me how much he would like use me and his system. He showed us how, if you’re the guy for him, that you’re literally going to have the ball and he’s going to make sure that it’s run through you. Just highlight that I get into the paint and kick out and have a lot of shooters around them, so that would be really good," Gardner added.

Gardner's Recruiting Status

While it's still early in his recruiting process, Gardner has numerous visits lined up. According to 247Sports, he has unofficial visits with Purdue, Ohio State, and Cincinnati in the next few weeks.

October 4 marked his first run of unofficial visits, all beginning with Notre Dame. A few weeks later he visited with Kentucky. Less than a week after that, the reigning National Champions, Florida, extended an offer.

"I’m just looking for a school that loves me and actually shows me how I’m gonna be in the system,” Gardner said. “I want to have a great relationship with the staff because once you’re in college that’s basically like who you’re around most of the time."

He continued, "I want to be able to have a great relationship with them, just, if anything goes wrong, or if I’m feeling some type of way, just being able to talk to them comfortably. I think I can fit in numerous systems, but definitely the comfort with the staff and how I fit in the system and their plans.”

Hawkeyes fans may think they're outmatched against a team like Florida or Kentucky, but Gardner told Shaw that Iowa is one of the four teams that "tap in the most". He put the Hawkeyes in that category with Texas, Ohio State, and Creighton.