March sadness, again
The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team limped to the finish line this season
As it has far too often in the Fran McCaffery era, the Iowa men’s basketball team entered and exited March quickly, not with a bang but a whimper.
Other than the Keegan Murray-led run to the 2021 Big 10 Tournament championship, the magical basketball month has been more Ides of March than One Shining Moment for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa was predicted to finish 9th in the media’s preseason Big 10 poll. By conference-only record, they finished tied for 5th at an even 10-10, although the overall win-loss record was a decidedly mediocre 9th best in the 14-team league.
Despite technically overachieving pre-season expectations in what was always going to be a rebuilding year, limping to the finish in unimpressive fashion is frustrating. There was no signature non-conference win and losses to regional rivals Iowa State and Creighton stung, particularly the blowout by the Cyclones. Starting 0-3 in conference put thoughts of an NCAA tournament bid on life support early and despite a late season turnaround, Iowa never seriously challenged the bubble.
Most disappointing were the home losses to a terrible Michigan team and a very mediocre Maryland squad. Had the Hawkeyes managed to win those, they likely would have been on the right side of the tournament bubble, despite the first-round conference tournament flameout at the hands of Ohio State.
Despite all that, I think Fran did a nice job keeping the team competitive despite the rocky season start. There were times I feared a long losing streak, and that never really materialized. But you can’t laud the turnaround without criticizing the creation of the hole to be dug out of in the first place.
The development of young players like Big 10 Freshman of the Year Owen Freeman, emerging slasher and sharpshooter in sophomore Josh Dix and some flashes of special potential from freshman point guard Brock Harding are all grounds for optimism.
But is anyone buying the stock?
I’ve taken a fair amount of grief for supposedly “insulting” and “blaming” Iowa fans for being a fair weather fan base. I don’t think that criticism is fair. After decades of disappointment and the abject failures of the Todd Lickliter era, it is understandable that Iowa fans operate in “prove it” mode and stay away in droves unless Iowa is winning at a high clip. However, only showing up for the absolute best teams is the textbook definition of being fair weather. That is not an insult and it is not blaming: it is merely a statement of fact.
The truth is, Iowa has a fan problem and fixing it needs to be a top priority of new athletic director Beth Goetz. It is difficult to imagine McCaffery’s seat is even warm, let alone hot, but it is also obvious he has worn out his welcome with a not insignificant cohort of the Iowa fan base. Barring a voluntary separation, McCaffery and Co. have some work to do to re-engage Iowa fans if Carver is to be full and rocking again.
Of course winning at a higher rate and actually competing at the top of the conference will fix the fan problem. The young core of this year’s Iowa team has potential to do just that, provided recruiting ticks up and the portal is used strategically. If Iowa adds a solid combo guard and a backup big guy to spell Freeman, it should have a team able to post a winning conference record and get back in the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in the past six years.
I suspect the lagging support for the men’s team is also partially due to the unprecedented success of the women’s team and the supernova-level stardom of Caitlin Clark. It can be hard to gin up enthusiasm for an inconsistent and streaky men’s team when you know the women are going to be clutch performers nearly every time out. There are also only a limited number of hours people can devote to attending sports in person and watching it on TV and when the women are appointment viewing, something has to give.
The 2024-25 basketball season is shaping up to be an inflection point in the Fran McCaffery era. If next year’s team shows growth and more consistency, earns a tournament bid and manages to win a couple games in the NCAAs, it should boost fan enthusiasm and quiet the critics. Struggle again, drop games to inferior teams and get pushed around by rivals, however, and the road gets even bumpier.
As fans of Iowa – whether you like Fran McCaffery or not – I think we can all agree the former is more appealing than the latter.
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As the years have passed, I watch fewer sports than I used to, with generally less interest (I was a wrestler and a football player in high school, and wrestled for UNI, so I have been interested in the past). I grew up reading Red Barber, Roger Angell, Jim Murray, George Plimpton, and Roger Kahn, and many, many more. While I might not watch much sports anymore, I have never quit reading sportswriters, because oftentimes the best writing in a newspaper or magazine is by the sportswriters, and my writing is better because I read and learn from the work of sportswriters. That's why I read your work. This is a splendid piece. After finishing it, I felt like I while I hadn't watched any of the games, I still knew of the trials and tribulations of this years Iowa men's basketball team, and its prospects for next season. I felt disappointment and loss, yet hope for next year. I get an odd vibe from Fran from when I have watched in the past, but know his heart is in the right place, if his actions always aren't. From your piece, I feel the anguish of the men's program, yet the contradictory pride of playing under a historic women's team for the ages. I suspect no men's team, and no men's basketball fans, have ever felt this pressure before. But importantly, I didn't create this image in my mind, you created it for me. You made me uneasy, made me feel for the team and Fran, yet hopeful for next year, which all of us fans, including we fair weather fans, yearn to be. Thank you. You gave every reader, every fan, coach, and player for next year's team a gift with this fine column.
To me, the problem in being consistently competitive, even in the years Fran has had some outstanding talent, is the inability of the half-court defense to make consistent stops. I'm not sure which of the assistants is tasked with that but whomever is not getting the job done. For years, I've said that Fran needs to get a top-flight defensive assistant and really work on that with the players, as much as they do the offense. Iowa double teams too much in its zone and we don't get to the matchups, leaving wide open three-point shooters to often and also being out-physicaled in the paint since Garza left. That and Fran needs to recruit a little more from the large cities in the Midwest or delve into the portal or the JC ranks for more size and strength. It's not going to get any easier with the likes of Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joining the Big Ten next year.