By Blake Dowson
Jordan Bohannon, I owe you an apology.
After watching you play over the summer in the Prime Time League and again during Iowa’s exhibition contest against Regis, I wrote in an article that Christian Williams would be playing the part of point guard in a starting role, because you weren’t quite there yet in terms of ball handling and strength. Go ahead and go find that article, write me a mean comment on it. I deserve it.
Jordan, I was wrong. And I’m sorry.
I didn’t know how quickly you would develop into the steadiest player on the team. See, there is a rather large learning curve for most freshmen in this league. I remember you giving a “Hoosiers” line early this season, saying the ball is the same size in college as it is in high school, and the hoop is 10 feet tall at both levels, too.
That stuck with me, but I still wasn’t convinced how fast your game would translate from Linn-Mar High School to major college basketball. Guys close out faster in the Big Ten than they do in the Mississippi Valley Conference, where you played your prep games. The guys are bigger in the Big Ten, too.
But that hasn’t mattered to you this season, much like it didn’t matter when you were being guarded by Melo Trimble on Saturday, one of the best point guards in the country. Being guarded by Trimble, you almost single-handedly silencing the 18,000 fans that showed up to cheer against you and your team.
Look, I knew you would knock down shots this season. Shooters shoot, like you said early in the season with that “Hoosiers” speech, and you’ve never had any problems finding your range. But that’s not why I’m writing you this apology letter.
Mike Gesell graduating last year left a major hole on the team. For four years, Gesell kept constant pressure on other teams, pushing and pushing the ball in transition, probing in the half court. I didn’t know if we would see as much of that this season with him gone.
Against Maryland, you were relentless in pushing the ball up the court, finding Tyler Cook and Peter Jok and everyone else when Maryland still had its back turned, running back to the other end of the court. You were in charge of the offense. You ran the offense just like Gesell did when he was wearing black and gold.
There was just one major difference between the two of you — Gesell never shot the ball like that. Over and over again, you knocked down shots with a hand in your face. Those were big time shots, against a big time opponent, in a big time environment.
So I’m convinced, because you convinced me on Saturday, that you are going to be a star in this league. And it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. In fact, the process has already started.