Mike Widen is so passionate about Iowa athletics, he has a tattoo on his leg to prove it.
The former Iowa women’s basketball manager, current referee, and also Recreational Services associate director has an Iowa basketball logo inked on the outside of his right ankle. His college roommate talked him into the artwork.
“We were a part of the original women’s gray team where we would round up four, five, six of our buddies and go scrimmage against the women in practice,” the 1997 UI graduate said. “My roommate was one of those, and he was a big Hawkeye fan, too. I guess it was his idea. He got a Tigerhawk, and I got the old-school Iowa basketball logo. I’ve had it ever since.”
Widen enrolled at Iowa as a freshman in 1993, but he began bleeding Black and Gold long before then.
As a junior in high school, he helped at a women’s basketball camp run by former Iowa head coach C. Vivian Stringer. While coaching fifth- and sixth-graders at the camp, Stringer took notice of Widen’s potential and asked if he was interested in coming to Iowa to be a team manager.
He was a manager for the women’s team during his undergraduate years at Iowa while also working in Recreational Services as a referee for a variety of intramural sports.
Of all the memories of Iowa basketball, two stand clear in his mind: clinching the Big Ten regular-season title at Wisconsin in 1996 and winning the Big Ten Tournament championship in Indianapolis in 1997. However, the everyday grind was what really satisfied him — knowing that he contributed to the team’s accomplishments.
“You put your heart and soul into practice every day, from the start of school when off-season workouts start. Then, October practice starts, and you’re there 20 hours a week,” Widen said. “So it was neat to see something pay off like that.”
After four years as a manager, he accepted a job as a graduate assistant in Recreational Services, heading the officiating section and training officials. Harry Ostrander, the director of Rec Services, recognized Widen’s talent at the position, eventually promoting him to be his associate.
“He was an outstanding hiring for us,” Ostrander said. “He did an outstanding job with our intramural officials as a grad student that it made sense to convert that into a full-time job, which we did. He does a great job for us, and he is a great fit.”
As a graduate student, Widen also began officiating junior-high football and basketball games around the Iowa City area. He currently refs high-school football and all levels of college basketball including the Prime Time and Game Time Leagues that Iowa players participate in over the summer.
“He’s one of those guys who not only is passionate, but he’s very competent,” Larson said. “It’s about helping the players get better for him. He does it for the players, and that’s exactly the attitude we want.”
Officiating gives Widen another way to stay connected with sports.
“I like the camaraderie with the other officials. It sounds kind of corny, but we are like the third team out there,” Widen said. “My dad was a coach growing up, so I’ve been around the game my whole life.”
There was a point in time where Widen wasn’t a Hawkeye. Wanting to branch out, he took a marketing internship with the New York Mets after grad school. But he realized rather quickly, with the tattoo as a constant reminder, that his heart belonged to the Iowa campus.
“I’m so involved with the university, it’s kind of a pride thing,” he said. “I like being involved in athletics in a university setting. It’s a good atmosphere to work in. It’s a fun job to have.”
