Great expectations were on the Hawkeyes last season.
Iowa was ranked fifth in the basketball preseason polls, the highest ranking in 65 years.
In 1956, Iowa was ranked fourth in the preseason polls.
The Hawks were ranked in the top 15 all season.
You start with Luka Garza, Player of the Year last season and a candidate for this year.
Throw in Jordan Bohannon, Joe Wieskamp, C.J. Fredrick and Connor McCaffery and the Hawks had a solid starting five.
The Hawks won 14 conference games, the most since 1987.
Iowa won eight games against the Associated Press top 25, the second most wins in the country.
The Hawks were seeded second in the NCAA tournament, the highest since 1987.
I got a chance to talk to Assistant Coach Kirk Speraw about the season.
Iowa opened the season with six straight wins, including a blowout against Iowa State and a good win over North Carolina.
Garza scored 16 against North Carolina with 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Bohannon scored 24, Fredrick 21 and Wieskamp 19.
The Tar Heels had four players over 6-10.
“I thought they had one of the best front lines in the country,” said Assistant Coach Speraw. “It was too bad for our fans to not be able to come to Carver and watch Iowa beat Iowa State and North Carolina.”
The Hawks beat Northern Illinois and were ranked third in the nation when they traveled to Sioux Falls to take on No. 1 Gonzaga.
Iowa lost, 99-88, and shot only 18 percent (4-22) from three-point range.
Jalen Suggs lit Iowa up with 27 points, including 7-10 from outside the arc.
Iowa recruited Suggs to play basketball and football.
“Suggs is going to be a great pro,” said Speraw. “He was a difference maker for sure.”
Big Ten
Iowa opened the Big Ten with a victory over Purdue and then lost to Minnesota.
After five straight wins, the Hawks lost, at home, to Indiana and, on the road, to Illinois.
Iowa swept Michigan State, beating the Spartans, 88-58, at East Lansing. The 30-point win was the largest ever at East Lansing.
It was one of my favorite wins of the season.
“The group was just so unselfish,” said Assistant Coach Speraw. “The perimeter guys were so patient. They would look inside for Luka (Garza) before looking for their shot.”
Big Ten Tournament
The Hawks beat Wisconsin and lost to Illinois, a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Garza scored 24 points against the Badgers with four blocked shots. He had 24 points and 12 boards in the loss to Illinois.
“I really thought that Illinois and Michigan would get to the Final Four,” said Coach Speraw. “Both teams had great talent and depth.”
NCAA Tournament
Iowa beat Grand Canyon, 86-74, in the first game with Garza scoring 24 and Keegan Murray coming off the bench with 13 points and four blocked shots.
The Hawks were knocked out by Oregon, 95-80, and Garza finished his Iowa career with 36 points.
“I watched 15 games and their game against us was the best they played offensively and the highest energy they played with,” said Coach Speraw. “We didn’t play as well as we needed to, but they played terrific.”
The Team
Assistant Coach Kirk Speraw has been around basketball for over 50 years, as a player and a coach, and has never seen a player like Garza.
“He was never ‘that guy,’” said Speraw. “He was working to be ‘that guy.’ Luka’s work ethic, passion for the game and constantly trying to get better made him into the Player of the Year. He watched a lot of film and worked on his game.”
I’m not going to list all of the accomplishments Garza achieved, but when you get your jersey retired, you had a great career.
Joe Wieskamp
Wieskamp averaged 11 points as a freshman, 14 as a sophomore and 14.8 as a junior.
Last year, Wieskamp shot 48 percent from three and as a sophomore shot 85 percent from the free throw line, the third best ever for a sophomore.
“Joe (Wieskamp) made as much progress in his game as anybody did,” said Assistant Coach Speraw. “Got better defensively, got better as a leader. Both Joe and Luka were outstanding leaders.”
As of this writing, Wieskamp hasn’t said if he will be back or not.
I’m thinking, he will try to make the NBA.
Jordan Bohannon
Bohannon will be back as a shooting guard next season.
Why not? Ja-Bo is the best three-point shooter ever at Iowa.
Bohannon holds the school record for most three-pointers (364), most games (143), most assists (639) and best free throw percentage (.887).
Coach Speraw said this is the first summer Jordan can work on his game. He was injured the last couple of summers.
Connor McCaffery
Assistant Coach Speraw said nobody realized McCaffery was hurt most of the season. He had surgery on both hips following the season.
McCaffery led the team in assists, 42, and steals, 20.
Joe Toussaint
I’ve said this before, when Toussaint is on, he is one of the fastest and best guards in the Big Ten. When he is off, he is a turnover machine.
“I think Joe continues to grow and develop,” Coach Speraw said. “He’s always going to give you tremendous effort and he is so competitive.”
Keegan Murray
I have never seen a freshman show as much poise as Murray.
After a good play or bad, Murray kept his cool.
“The sky is the limit for Keegan,” said Assistant Coach Speraw. “The defenses will know who he is, so he will have to keep working hard.”
Patrick McCaffery
McCaffery can run the floor as good as anybody and at 6-9 is hard to keep up with.
“He and Joe Toussaint really got a good connection on the fast break,” said Speraw. “He’s got a high upside for sure.”
Ahron Ulis and Tony Perkins
Coach Speraw said both Ulis and Perkins played well as freshmen.
He expects both to be a lot better next season.
Kris Murray
Coach Speraw said Murray can score but needs to work on the rest of his game.
Josh Ogundele
Ogundele got to play against Garza all season and showed improvement over the season.
The Hawks return four players next season, including three over 6-9.
I’ll talk more about them before the season.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Stephen Mally

Iowa forward Keegan Murray (15) dunks the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. (Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com)