Leatherneck Nation

Raegan McCowan chooses Houston.
https://iowacollegehoops.com/2026/04/30 ... s-houston/
 

Big 12 tournament in Kansas City is also a big plus for her family and friends.

leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 12:32 am She has to be pretty disappointed if a 1-17 big 12 team is the best she could do.

 

Few factors here and I'll just say I hope she does well.  Wish she could have come back and played at the end of the year, but understand she might not have been 100% and saving the year of eligibiity is huge.

Record of this team is irrelevant.  Winning is great and used to be the goal, but that is no longer the world we live in.  Sucks, but we can't blame athletes/kids for playing the game....

Houston could have offered her the most NIL, so why not take it.  

They likely all but guaranteed a starting spot and the opportunity to shoot as much as possible.  This is what comes with a team that only wins 1 conference game.

She's betting on herself, that she can score and hang in one of the top conferences.  Basically a chance to showcase in a league that sent 8 teams to NCAA tournament last year.  They still only win 1 conference game, but she drops close to 20 a night and someone with more money will rent her for 1 season.

Good luck to her and hopefully we have some future studs stepping up.
 

I thought Raegan was coming back, info was in error.  Going to a bad Houston team doesn't seem like an improvement over us.

Wiufan87 wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 1:19 pm Going to a bad Houston team doesn't seem like an improvement over us.


 

Again, you're just looking at the record of the team from last year, which was the first year with a new coach who has had a great deal of success elsewhere (3x SEC coach of the year, 9 NCAA tournament appearances, etc.) He's probably going to have their team looking much better this next year and I wouldn't be surprised if they're playing in the NCAA tournament before she's done. That being said, I think record (or potential record) doesn't really play into it much.

She can get her masters degree at a school that is academically ranked quite a bit higher than Western and really isn't far behind the other schools she was looking at (Iowa is #102 for National Universities in US News and World Report's rankings; Iowa State is #117; Houston is #132).
She is likely going to be a starter with a lot of playing time. I'm guessing she probably could have gone to Iowa, but would have spent a lot of time on the bench.
Houston has money...money they can give her that we can't compete with. Not like UT-Austin money, but still, even a low-level Big 12 team is going to be an order of magnitude above what we can swing her way.

I would have loved to see her come back, but I can't blame her one bit for taking a huge opportunity like this when it's available to her.
 

i guess im just missing the days of players caring about winning now its all about money and winning doesn't really matter
 

leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 8:27 pm i guess im just missing the days of players caring about winning now its all about money and winning doesn't really matter
 

 

Look on the bright side.  At least they are now paying taxes on their NIL earnings to help support our Medicare system and other programs.

The argument of you can't blame them for taking money is stupid to me. 

Legacy > Money.... you play 1 year at Houston who was awful and what happens after... you're just another name & number in the record book. 

Stay at WIU, be apart of a community that will love you forever and embrace you, will be there to help you out always. Also games are going to be full and have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Houston ain't making the dance, you have a better shot at making at WIU right now. 
 

4EverPurple&Gold wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 10:40 am The argument of you can't blame them for taking money is stupid to me. 

Legacy > Money.... you play 1 year at Houston who was awful and what happens after... you're just another name & number in the record book. 

Stay at WIU, be apart of a community that will love you forever and embrace you, will be there to help you out always. Also games are going to be full and have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Houston ain't making the dance, you have a better shot at making at WIU right now. 
 

 

THIS ^^^^^^^^

Unfortunately, that’s just not our society anymore. Especially when a young adult.