One of the top targets on the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ recruiting board in the 2028 class is headed elsewhere.
In-state guard Jhaliana Guy announced her commitment to the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday night, writing on social media, “When it’s right, it’s right.” Guy is ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Iowa in the 2028 class per Prep Girls Hoops.
The 5-foot-9 guard from Bettendorf High School had picked up an offer from the Hawkeyes in July of 2024. Guy was one of a handful of high-profile visitors earlier this season when Iowa (22-10, 10-8 Big Ten) toppled then-No. 4 USC, 76-69, from inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Guy also held offers from schools such as Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA and USC among others.
During that win over USC, Iowa also had 2025 signees Addie Deal and Journey Houston on campus as well as class of 2026 recruits Kate Harpring, Addison Bjorn and Jenica Lewis and class of 2027 prospect Finley Chastain.
Deal is a five-star signee per ESPN and ranked as the No. 18 player nationally, while Houston is rated as a four-star signee and the No. 85 player nationally. The Hawkeyes also signed four-star post Layla Hays who is ranked as the No. 70 player in the country per ESPN in their 2025 class.
According to ESPN, Harpring is the nation’s No. 2 player, Bjorn is the No. 11 player in the country and Lewis is the No. 15 player nationally in 2026. All three are five-star recruits per ESPN.
Chastain is ranked as a four-star recruit and as the No. 18 player nationally per ESPN in the 2027 cycle.
Guy’s pledge to the Cardinal is the first commitment in the 2028 class for Stanford and first-year head coach Kate Paye. A player on Stanford’s 1992 national championship team, Paye joined longtime Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer’s staff ahead of the 2007-08 season.
Paye worked primarily with the guards while assisting on VanDerveer’s staff before taking over as the Cardinal’s head coach prior to this season.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball misses out on top in-state talent in 2028
