Iowa Head Men’s Basketball Coach Fran McCaffery said at media day this year’s team has the most depth he’s had since he’s been here, especially in the front line.
The first two exhibition games have shown, so far, he is right.
Iowa played 15 players in the opener, including two walk-ons and Christian Williams, who has since transferred.
The emergence of freshman Conner McCaffery had to be one of the main reasons Williams transferred.
McCaffery was running No. 2 at point guard in practice.
With his passing skills and knowledge of the offense, it was good to see him taking off his redshirt to compete this season.
McCaffery might not score a lot, but he is a good free throw shooter and had three assists and no turnovers in the first game.
How about the twin-tower freshmen?
Jack Nunge (6-11) was 6-6 from the floor, including 3-3 from 3-point range. He also had nine boards, two blocked shots and scored 16 points in 17 minutes.
Nunge was compared to Jarrod Uthoff because of his length and range.
Luka Garza (6-10) played 26 minutes, scored 17 points with nine boards and two blocked shots.
In Iowa’s second exhibition win, Nunge scored nine, including a 3-pointer and Garza had 24 with 12 rebounds.
Tyler Cook is starting strong with 40 points in the two games.
I know the competition isn’t Big Ten caliber, but it’s good to see the new twin towers getting it going early.