Familiar scenery. Familiar faces. Familiar pride.
Iowa men’s basketball players Owen Freeman and Brock Harding aim to have a triumphant return to their hometown of Moline, Illinois, on Friday night when the Hawkeyes take on Washington State at Vibrant Arena. The game will mark the Hawkeyes’ first in Moline in 26 years.
“Basically everybody that lives in the Quad Cities has said they’re going to be there,” Harding said at media availability on Thursday.
Nestled just south of the Mississippi River and near the Illinois-Iowa border, Moline High School captured its first state title in men’s basketball in 2023. That 35-3 squad was headlined by Harding at guard and Freeman in the post. The pair earned first-team all-state honors and combined to average 36 points per game.
For Harding, he remembers that title run for the collective unity that enveloped Moline and the rest of the Quad Cities that postseason. Even rival Rock Island got behind the Maroons as they conquered Benet Academy for the Class 4A trophy.
That season was Freeman’s first with the school, as he transferred from in-state foe Bradley-Bourbonnais that summer. The center still holds the Boilermakers’ single-season field goal percentage record, but Freeman also has lasting memories of his final prep season with Harding and the rest of the Maroons.
“The community and the Quad Cities wrapped their arms around me and showed me love,” Freeman said. “That’s my main thing, just being able to go there today and tomorrow and give back. I’m super excited.”
While neither played basketball inside the 12,000-seat multipurpose Vibrant Arena, Harding and Freeman held their high school graduation ceremony there. When they found out they would make a return as Hawkeyes, the pair were overjoyed.
“I was on a little fishing trip when it happened,” Freeman said of the August announcement of the contest. “I was really excited. I didn’t know anything about it, so for it to come out and be public, I was through the moon.”
Unlike previous seasons, Iowa is no longer playing the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and the Gavitt Games. Both events were discontinued after the 2022-23 season to accommodate conference expansion.
Friday’s opponent, Washington State, is now an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference for basketball after the mass exodus of teams from its former PAC-12 conference. Utah, now part of the Big 12, and rival Iowa State are the only two major conference teams Iowa has on its non-conference schedule.
Despite not playing in a power conference, Washington State won 25 games last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Iowa State.
“I think it’s necessary to play powerful opponents outside of your conference schedule,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “You could say, ‘Well, we have 20 league games. We have to travel across the country a number of times. It’s probably enough.’ But the reality is, you want to play teams with different conferences, teams with different styles. That’s what you’re gonna end up seeing in the NCAA Tournament.”
Compared to Iowa’s three previous opponents, Washington State holds the best record and highest scoring offense. Led by seven players averaging double-digit points, the Cougars boast a 3-0 mark and average 93.7 points per game – tied for 21st in the nation.
Head coach Kyle Smith’s contract wasn’t renewed at the end of last season, so he took the job at Stanford. To replace Smith, the school tapped former Eastern Washington coach David Riley to fill the void. Riley won consecutive Big Sky Coach of the Year awards and led the Eagles to two postseason appearances, compiling a 62-38 overall record.
The change in coaching coincided with overwhelming transfer portal exits among Cougar players, with second-year guard Isaiah Watts being the only holdover from last season.
Four of Washington State’s five leading scorers followed Riley from Eastern Washington. The lone exception is top scorer Nate Calmese, who split his first two seasons between Lamar and rival Washington. A 6-foot-2 guard, Calmese is averaging a career-high 17.7 points and 4.2 assists per game this season.
Similar to Iowa, Washington State isn’t afraid to let it fly from deep. The Cougars rank 44th in the nation in made three-point attempts per game, trailing the third-ranked Hawkeyes. Washington State can stretch the floor as well, with Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup, each standing at least 6-foot-10, knocking in a combined 40 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.
“They have five guys that can really spread [the court] out,” Harding said of the Cougars. “They can rebound, they can get out in transition and run. So I think it’ll be an up-tempo game. Got to lock in on defending the three-pointer.”