Iowa basketball: Are Hawkeyes men being undervalued in the preseason again?

Posted by Admin October 3, 2024 Basketball

ROSEMONT, Ill — Since Luka Garza’s departure from Iowa men’s basketball in 2021, the Hawkeyes have consistently been undervalued in the preseason.

The widest gap between preseason and postseason expectations was three seasons ago when Iowa was picked to finish ninth in the league by a preseason media poll. The Hawkeyes ended up tied for fourth and won the Big Ten Tournament title.

Two seasons ago, Iowa was picked seventh and earned a 5-seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Last season, the Hawkeyes were picked ninth and entered the Big Ten Tournament as the 7-seed.

How Iowa fared in the NCAA Tournament is another story — the Hawkeyes didn’t win a single game during that stretch and missed the Big Dance entirely last season. But Iowa finished better in the Big Ten than media anticipated in each of the last three campaigns.

One lesson from this? Preseason projections are far from an exact science.

Another takeaway? Doubt Iowa at your own risk.

Yet again, the Hawkeyes have a chance to do so again during the 2024-25 season.

Iowa checked in at 11th in this year’s recently released preseason media poll. The Hawkeyes were picked to finish as high as seventh and as low as 16th on individual ballots.

By the estimation of pundits, Iowa is not expected to finish in the top half of the Big Ten this season, much less be a factor near the top of the standings.

More: Iowa men’s basketball: Hawkeyes picked 11th in preseason Big Ten media poll

At Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was presented with the fact that the Hawkeyes weren’t getting much preseason media love. McCaffery’s response wasn’t filled with fireworks.

“You’d probably expect me to say, ‘I never paid attention to it,’” McCaffery said of preseason predictions. “But I really never did. We’ve got a really good team. I’m also aware that there’s a lot of other really good teams in this league and in the country. So we’ll figure it out later. We’ll play the games. We’ll be ready.”

The foundational core of McCaffery’s team includes Payton Sandfort, who enters the season as one of the league’s best players. The Hawkeyes also brought back reigning Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year Owen Freeman and versatile guard Josh Dix. By and large, this was an encouraging offseason for the Hawkeyes.

“He’s an incredibly hard worker,” McCaffery said of Freeman. “He’s changed his body a little bit. He’s stronger. He’s doing more off the bounce, shooting the ball outside more. I’m seeing a much more complete player, and that’s by design. That’s what he wanted to do.

There are plenty of things this team needs to prove on the court come the start of the season. But recent history would indicate Iowa will finish better than 11th.

If that’s the case, the next question becomes — how far can Iowa clear that bar?

Changes for the McCaffery family

So far during the 2024 calendar year, multiple members of the McCaffery family have found a home in the Butler men’s basketball program.

After several years at Iowa, Patrick McCaffery transferred to Butler this offseason. In July, Jack McCaffery, who is entering his senior season at West High School in Iowa City, committed to the Bulldogs’ 2025 recruiting class.

Most recently, Connor McCaffery joined Butler as an assistant coach. Connor McCaffery, who played baseball and basketball at Iowa, left his job in the Indiana Pacers organization to work on Thad Matta’s staff at Butler.

That makes all three of McCaffery’s sons either currently part of — or set to join — the Bulldogs’ program.

“It’s one thing to say that you have respect and admiration for a coach,” McCaffery said. “But there’s probably no better example for that because my other son (Jack) is going there. So they did the best job recruiting him. Thad asked me, like ‘Am I wasting my time? Is he going to come play for you?’ I said, ‘He’s not — recruit him.’ And they did the best job.”

Butler improved from 14-18 in year one to 18-15 in year two under Matta, a former Ohio State head coach. But the Bulldogs are searching for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018. Connor and Patrick have a chance to help change that this season.

“Now he’s really engrained in the profession,” McCaffery said of his son Connor. “Had a great opportunity (last season) with the Pacers. And obviously right now with coach Matta at Butler. I’m thrilled for him. We tried to create an opportunity for him to have options, which I think which we all do for our children.”

McCaffery added: “I’m really proud of him. He’s carving his own path.”

Hawkeyes changing with the times

Iowa recently followed what is now a trend around college basketball. General managers have become more common, helping navigate the many moving pieces that a program faces.

This offseason, longtime Iowa men’s basketball staff member Al Seibert added the role of general manager to his chief of staff duties with the program. His expanded role includes helping manage name, image and likeness (NIL).

“I thought Al would do a really good job with that part of this,” McCaffery said. “He was already kinda doing it … So a little bit fell on him. And he has relationships with the people that you need to have relationships with. So he’ll be great there. Eventually, probably every team will have a separate general manager. So we’ll see.”

That fits into the discussion of the evolving college athletics landscape, which includes the transfer portal and NIL. The Iowa men’s basketball program is in the middle of the food chain. It has advantages over smaller programs but fewer resources than college basketball’s elites, which could present challenges when it comes to roster management.

“What makes it hard is what we would have referred to before as tampering,” McCaffery said. “I don’t know if there’s any such thing anymore. Because everybody’s a free agent. So constantly dealing with what your roster is going to look like, especially after the season. Because that’s when everything changes. So once you get your roster situated, nothing’s changed after that.”

McCaffery, though, isn’t letting that take away his passion for the job.

“We’ve had a number of changes that we’ve had to adjust to, whether they be NCAA rules or anything regarding the landscape of college athletics,” McCaffery said. “So I just adjust. I still love my job. I still love the profession. I still respect the profession. I love going to work every day and working with young people and trying to put a team together that can be successful in a very difficult environment. That’s what I’m gonna continue to do.”

Rewarding hard work

One of the best moments in college sports is when a walk-on athlete is awarded with a scholarship. That was the case for Carter Kingsbury this offseason.

Kingsbury has family ties to the Iowa program. His father, Chris, played for the Hawkeyes from 1993-96 before embarking on a professional career. Carter Kingsbury has followed in his footsteps as a member of the Hawkeye men’s basketball program.

After three seasons in the program, including one redshirt, Kingsbury was put on scholarship for the 2024-25 season.

“It was an easy decision,” McCaffery said. “Carter is an incredible teammate. He continues to get better. He was always a good player when we recruited him as a preferred walk-on. And he can shoot the ball, he can play multiple positions, he’s really smart. He understands defense and what we’re trying to do offensively. I feel very comfortable putting him in the game.”