Cougill Commits To Big Ten Program

Brennan Cougill took a visit to a Big Ten program this weekend and he'll return home a committed man, as the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder is now a Hawkeye.

Brennan Cougill knew what he wanted and on Saturday he got. The 6-foot-9 rising junior picked up a scholarship from Iowa, while on campus, and it didn’t take him long to accept it.

“I think he’d seen a few places and he knew what he liked,” Cougill’s AAU coach Jamie Johnson said. “I didn’t realize it, but I think in the back of his mind that he was waiting for Iowa to offer so he could get it over with.”

“I think he just knew in his heart that this is what he was waiting for and he got it,” he continued. “He thought about it for a couple of hours and decided that’s where he wanted to be, so why wait?”

Cougill, a standout at Sioux City (Iowa) Bishop Heelan Catholic, had already made a number of trips to Iowa, including a handful of them last year.

“He came down for his third or fourth visit and he came down for homecoming. They gave him the offer this morning and I didn’t think he’d commit, but he hung around and took in some of the game day activities and decided, why wait? That’s where his heart is and he wanted to go there and play basketball.”

Cougill, was active this summer playing for the Iowa Barnstormers and at a few camps, including the USA Basketball Men’s Youth Developmental Festival. According to Johnson his best event was the RBK Summer Championships.

“He did a very good job playing up a year against some of the best guys in the country. I think that’s where he shined. I think that’s where the attention really started to grow and I think that’s where he made a name for himself.”

Cougill picked the Hawkeyes over interest from Illinois, Southern Illinois, Marquette, Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Tennessee Indiana State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Creighton and Missouri State.