The Iowa men’s basketball team has been on the rise since Fran McCaffery started his reign in Iowa City in 2010. As far as the program has come in that short time, there is still room for improvement. Luckily, with wins comes fame, and with fame come recruits.
The Hawkeyes are reaping the benefits of that now, as they await the arrival of point guard Trey Dickerson to participate in the Prime Time League. The sophomore transfer from Williston State College in North Dakota was the No. 13-ranked national junior-college prospect of 2014 and the top point guard.
Dickerson will miss the first two weeks of Prime Time, but he will arrive in Iowa City June 27. He was drafted by coach Ron Nove and will play alongside Hawkeye Aaron White, as well as Northern Iowa’s Deon Mitchell and Marvin Singleton.
“This league is kind of guard-first,” Nove said. “Dickerson’s fast, very quick, and dishes the ball. I think he and Deon Mitchell would give me two first-team point guards.”
It will be interesting to see the Hawkeye and Panther guards play together, but Dickerson is especially eager to play alongside his new Iowa teammates.
“I’m really looking forward to playing with Aaron White,” he said.
When the regular season comes for the Hawkeyes, Dickerson will likely begin slotted behind returning starter Mike Gesell, but the talented transfer believes he can provide an impact in his first year.
How quickly he transitions remains to be seen, but Dickerson’s numbers from Williston State certainly are cause for encouragement.
He was a dangerous scorer, averaging 19.8 points per game on 48 percent shooting, very impressive for a 6-1 guard who did most of his damage inside the arc. That’s not to say he can’t stretch the floor, however. His 35 percent clip from beyond the 3-point line is enough to command respect and keep his defenders guessing.
Dickerson’s game is more well-rounded than just getting buckets. He averaged 6 assists per game and posted a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Furthermore, the he chased down 4 rebounds per game and grabbed 1.4 steals per game.
Williston State called on Dickerson to provide a significant scoring punch, but his athleticism and versatile skills allow him to do whatever his coach asks him to do. For McCaffery, he’s looking forward to getting the ball into the hands of other talented players.
“I’m the kind of guard who likes to score,” Dickerson said. “But going to the next level, I’m going to have a bunch of shooters around me with Josh [Oglesby], [Gesell], and Jarrod Uthoff, so I’m really going to look to drive and kick and create. As a point guard on the Big Ten level, I’m really going to look to lead.”
When it comes to leadership, Dickerson’s coach at Williston State, Eric Peterson — now at South Dakota — believes that Dickerson will be able to fill that role adequately.
“Trey grew quite a bit as far as his progress scoring-wise,” Peterson said. “But one of the things I was most proud of was I challenged him every day to become a better leader. He took a lot of pride in that.”
Dickerson will have three years to become a leader for the Hawkeyes, but he and Peterson agree that he will become a contributor, particularly offensively and in transition.
“He’s very skilled offensively,” Peterson said. “He was one of the quickest guards in Juco, if not the quickest. I will tell you there aren’t many guys in the Big Ten as quick as him.”
