The Iowa bench has plenty of room to grow to get a set rotation.

By Ian Murphy
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Much has been made of the experience of the starters for the Iowa men’s basketball team.

Even more has been made of the excellent recruiting class head coach Fran McCaffery brought to Iowa City.

With high expectations for both the returners and the freshman class, McCaffery has expressed a desire to have a 10-man rotation this season.

But in Iowa’s 76-74 loss to Division 2 Augustana on Nov. 6, the Hawkeye starters logged 154 minutes combined, compared with just 46 total from the seven reserves who hit the court.

And 29 of those minutes came from redshirt-freshman Brady Ellingson and junior transfer Dale Jones.

The bench will need to improve in a hurry to make a 10-man rotation a reality.

“It’s great to see Brady Ellingson shoot the ball the way he did,” McCaffery said. “It is great to see Dale shoot it and get to the offensive glass.

“Like I said, when Dale figures out our offense a little bit better, he’s going to be terrific.”

Jones and Ellingson, along with sophomore Dom Uhl, who will play as center Adam Woodbury’s backup this season, seem firmly in the rotation.

“Coach really wanted me to play tough on defense,” Jones said. “By my playing hard on defense, and my teammates getting open on offense, it created opportunities for me.”

Jones finished 3-of-5 shooting — hitting two treys — with 8 points, but the rest of the spots are up in the air.

It’s a safe bet that two other freshmen will see the court as well, at least according to McCaffery’s plan.

“I think [Christian] Williams and [Andrew] Fleming are effective players,” the coach said. “They weren’t so much tonight.”

Fleming brings experience from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, a prep basketball factory, and Williams is another highly touted recruit.

The problem for the Hawkeyes won’t be finding a 10-man rotation. The issue will be finding the right mix.

The starting five won’t change, but the role of bench players will be key for the Hawkeyes.

At times on Nov. 7, McCaffery went to a small lineup, mixing guards with Jones playing the 5. Other times, he went with height and had limited success.

Augustana easily shut down Uhl and freshman Ahmad Wagner, who played just three minutes each and registered 2 rebounds between them.

“I still think [Uhl] is an effective player. I think [Wagner] is an effective player,” McCaffery said, echoing his belief about Fleming and Williams. McCaffery said he would have liked to put the former two back in the game.

And while the loss was to a Division 2 team shouldn’t set off the panic button quite yet — Augustana is a very good team — there should be a small amount of concern that the starters played as much as they did. The most effective group of five, both via the eye test and the box score, was the starting lineup.

However, it is still early in the season, and the Hawkeyes have time to figure their rotation out.

“It’s all a learning process, beginning of the season,” senior Woodbury said. “We’ve just got to find our roles, both individually and collectively.”

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