The Iowa men’s basketball team isn’t garnering much preseason attention, but the team says it doesn’t mind
By Ian Murphy
ROSEMONT, Illinois—With five returning veterans, a third place finish in the conference last season, and an NCAA tournament game win, the Iowa men’s basketball team should carry some conversation heading into the season.
But the Hawkeyes drew very little attention at the Big Ten Conference Media day on Thursday. Senior Jarrod Uthoff drew preseason All-Big Ten honors, but aside from him, the Hawkeyes have not attracted the fanfare of years past.
Big Ten Network analysts even picked the Hawkeyes to finish 9th in the conference this year, despite the returning veterans.
But the Hawkeyes said they don’t pay any mind to the preseason chatter.
“You can’t really look at the standings,” senior Anthony Clemmons said. “They never end up right.”
The Hawkeyes are not in the conversation in part because of the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins, who are the preseason favorite to win the conference and arguably the top team in the country, led by sophomore guard Melo Trimble, the Big Ten preseason player of the year.
Couple Maryland with an impressive crop of incoming players littered throughout the conference and teams with high expectations like No. 24 Purdue and No. 15 Indiana, and it’s easier to understand why the Hawkeyes aren’t among the favorites.
But Iowa remains undeterred.
“As a player you have to really stick to the main focus of your team and the goals of your team,” Clemmons said.
The main focus, at least early on, appears to be sustaining the recent success the Hawkeyes have found.
Each year of head coach Fran McCaffrey’s tenure has seen improvement from the Hawkeyes, going from 11 wins in 2011, to 18 and an NIT berth in 2012, to 25 wins and an NIT semi-final run in 2013, 20 wins and an NCAA tournament berth in 2014, and 22 wins and an NCAA tournament game win in 2015.
With veteran leadership, tournament experience, traceable improvement, and a highly touted recruiting class, the program should be attracting more notice
But McCaffrey said he harbors no hard feelings about the lack of hype, and credits the depth of the league as a major factor.
“I think it’s a function of how good everybody else is,” McCaffrey said. “I don’t think it’s disrespect. I think it’s respect for really good teams.”
The depth of the Big Ten lends itself to someone being left out, in both the preseason conversation, five Big Ten teams are ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and postseason play, but the Hawkeyes echo their coach’s attitude, paying little mind to the expectations.
“That’s totally fine if we’re under the radar.” senior Adam Woodbury said. “The underdog role, we’ll play that, if they’re picking us where they’re picking us that’s totally fine.”
The Hawkeyes will not often find themselves in the underdog role if this season goes similar to last.
And besides, the season hasn’t started yet.
“I don’t look at it any way. We just kind of do what we do,” McCaffrey said. “If you think about it, who really cares who was picked where now, it’s where you end up.”
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