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Iowa Basketball: Iowa Hawkeyes 2015-16 Season Preview

By Doug Winkey

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Iowa Hawkeyes

2014-2015  record: 22-12 (12-6 Big Ten)
Postseason:  NCAA Tournament – Third Round 

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Welcome back basketball fans!  We are only two months away from the time when many college teams will be kicking off their season and so we begin with team previews here at Busting Brackets.  First up for this guy is the Iowa Hawkeyes of B1G.

Last season was respectable for Iowa as they finished 4th in the competitive Big Ten behind only Wisconsin, Maryland, and Michigan State.  The conference didn’t get any weaker coming into 2015-2016 with several schools listed in at least one way-too-early poll.  The Hawks will look to remain competitive behind a roster that didn’t have tons of departures or graduations from ’14-15 while also continuing to develop under Fran McCaffery.

Newcomers

G – Andrew Fleming (#68 SG 247Sports)
F – Brandon Hutton  (#42 SF 247Sports)
F – Dale Jones (JUCO Transfer)
F – Isaiah Moss (#48 SF 247Sports)
G – Michael Soukup (Transfer from Southeastern [IA] CC)
G – Steven Soukup (Transfer from Southeastern [IA] CC)
F – Ahmad Wagner (#52 SF 247Sports)
G – Christian Williams

Projected Starters

G – Mike Gesell
G – Peter Jok
F – Jarrod Uthoff
F – Dale Jones
C – Adam Woodbury

Key Reserves

G – Anthony Clemens
F – Dom Uhl
F – Ahmad Wagner
F – Isaiah Moss
G – Andrew Fleming

Key Players

Jarrod Uthoff – The lanky forward has had brief moments of brilliance during his time as a Hawkeye, but with Aaron White no longer in the lineup, consistency will be key for the Hawkeyes’ newly minted go-to guy.

Mike Gesell – Iowa has a history of producing scrappy point guards, and Gesell is no different. This year he’ll be forced to take his largest role with the team yet. If he can be a knockdown three-point shooter and take care of the ball, he’ll keep the Hawkeyes competitive in the Big Ten against all odds.

Key Non-Conference Games

Nov. 19 at Marquette – Marquette represents the first major opponent for Iowa.  Steve Wojciechowski’s squad finished at the bottom of the Big East last year and most of the key contributors are gone from that campaign, but top guard Duane Wilson is back along with center Luke Fischer to try and get the Golden Eagles back to relevance.  The game will also take place at Marquette so it will be important to see how Iowa handles their first road test of the season.

Dec. 10 at Iowa State – The classic CyHawk game represents a huge date for the Hawkeyes as they take on the Iowa State Cyclones.  ISU returns almost every single piece from a dark horse Final Four contender.  Unless some of the newcomers gel on the court, this could be a blowout in Hilton Coliseum.  Both teams are always fired up for this contest, but Iowa got crushed in Iowa City last year, 90-75.  This game is one of the team’s last before conference play, so I peg it as a big marker of where Iowa will be going into the Big Ten.  One extra thing to keep in mind for this game is the slight rule changes that are in effect this season, including the shot clock reduction.  The shortening of the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 will push Iowa more towards Iowa State’s pace, which will likely remain in the top-20 nationally.  Iowa was a solid 120th in the country last year, but didn’t shoot particularly well so the increase in tempo could be a larger determining factor than in previous years.

Jan. 2 vs Purdue  – While other schools likely represent more difficult matchups, I want to highlight the first game with the Boilermakers as the two schools finished next to each other last season.  While Iowa lost key players, Purdue returned their top contributors from a balanced squad, while also adding 5-star center and McDonald’s All-American, Caleb Swanigan.  Swanigan had originally committed to Michigan State, but switched his allegiance to the Boilermakers in late spring, giving the team one of the best frontcourts in the conference, if not the nation.  Iowa’s big men will need to dig deep if they want to overcome one of the biggest threats to Maryland’s presumed conference dominance.

Season Outlook

This year might be rough for the Hawkeyes.  The losses of White and Olasani should not be understated as they made the Hawks capable of going inside with regularity and mixing it up with the traditional stalwart Big Ten frontcourts.  Iowa has experience guards and a good coach in McCaffery who’ll keep the players motivated, but with the conference improving all around Iowa, it is hard to see how they will hang.  There are simply too many new faces to know exactly how they’ll survive.  They have enough to hang with the pack so I put them right around .500 with their ceiling being 20 regular season wins.  Iowa will finish no better than fourth in the Big Ten, but no worse than eighth given how tenaciously they typically compete and they while they won’t hit the NCAA tournament without some luck, they are a definitely NIT contender.

Next: Big Ten Season Preview

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