IOWA CITY, Iowa – If Fran McCaffery had his way, there wouldn’t be a senior day event before Tuesday’s game against Big Ten leader Indiana at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

There wouldn’t be a teary-eyed ceremony in which his four seniors will be recognized for their vast accomplishments before playing the final game on their home floor.

“I don’t get into the emotional side of it to be honest with you,” McCaffery said Monday on a teleconference. “I’ve been on record as saying I wish we could do away with senior day and celebrate those guys at the (team) banquet the way they need to be celebrated.

“The good thing about this, I guess, and why we still do it is it is a way for the fans to be a part of it because there will be more people there than will be at the banquet. So we’ll go into more depth about the incredible accomplishments of this class. But I’m not even going to bring that up to be honest with you, the fact that it’s senior day.”

The timing of Iowa’s senior day couldn’t be worse, with the Hawkeyes having lost three games in a row and four of their last five games. It helps to look at the big picture when showing appreciation for the four seniors on the Iowa men’s basketball team.

Look beyond the team’s current skid and you’ll see four seniors who have played a significant role in rebuilding the Iowa program under McCaffery.

You’ll see four seniors who have combined to start 372 games and been a part of four consecutive 20-win seasons.

You’ll see four seniors who helped Iowa win its first NCAA tournament game last season for the first time since 2001.

You’ll see four seniors who are on the verge of playing in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.

And you’ll see four seniors who have conducted themselves with class on and off the court.

Guards Anthony Clemmons and Mike Gesell, forward Jarrod Uthoff and 7-foot-1 center Adam Woodbury have worked together over the past four seasons to make Iowa relevant again. They’ve helped to re-energize the fans. And they’ve won a lot of games, while causing no distractions away from the court.

“If we were to kind of give these guys a set of guidelines for how to act when they get here, this would be the blueprint you would use, these four guys,” McCaffery said of his seniors.

There is also a fifth senior if you include 6-7 walk-on Okey Ukah. The Iowa City native has played sparingly as a Hawkeye, but he works hard in practice and cheers hard during games.

One of the best things you can say about a senior class is that it left a program in better condition than when it arrived.

That is certainly the case with Iowa’s four seniors.

They’re struggling right now, but the good still outweighs the bad.

The program has been on a steady ascent since the four seniors became a part of it in the fall of 2012.

Clemmons, Gesell and Woodbury were all in the same recruiting class, while Uthoff arrived at the same time after transferring from Wisconsin, where he was redshirted as a true freshman during the 2011-12 season.

Uthoff also had to sit out the 2012-13 season under transfer rules, but the Cedar Rapids native has since developed into a star player over three seasons.

Maybe the worst thing you could say about the 6-9 Uthoff is that he’s too unselfish on the court. He gets so consumed with trying to win and with trying to be a good teammate that he either forgets to play the star role on offense or he defers.

Uthoff didn’t attempt a shot in any of Iowa’s last nine possessions in Sunday’s 68-64 loss at Ohio State.

“I’d just like to see him be more aggressive,” McCaffery said Monday when asked what he could do to help Uthoff perform better. “Whenever it comes to Jarrod in terms of what I try to do for him, it’s never anything like drive more, post more, shoot more threes, shoot less threes; it’s never anything specific like that.

“It’s being more aggressive. That’s all I want him to do.”

Another thing that makes the seniors special is that they came to Iowa when the program still was rebuilding. They believed in McCaffery’s vision and wanted to help make it come true.

And in many ways, they have.

Signing Woodbury and Gesell was crucial for McCaffery because it showed that he could compete with the blue bloods and it added two significant pieces to the rebuilding puzzle.

Woodbury turned down North Carolina and a host of other scholarship offers because he wanted to be a Hawkeye. The Sioux City native was loyal to his home state and inspired by McCaffery’s vision.

“It was incredibly impactful,” McCaffery said of landing Woodbury and Gesell. “It was a great day for Iowa basketball. Those two guys were highly rated guys. They wanted to come here and make a name for themselves here and be a part of it. They wanted to play together. They were buddies. They had played together so much they had unbelievable respect for each other.

“They knew they had a chance to play right away and they’ve seized that opportunity. They’re just winning people. Everything they do is character based and reflective of their parents and their families and where they’re from. And I just couldn’t be more proud to be their coach. And I wish it wasn’t the last game (at Carver-Hawkeye Arena), I’ll tell you that.”

And let’s not forget about the 6-1 Clemmons because he also has made a significant contribution. It hasn’t always been easy, but Clemmons has stayed the course. The Lansing, Mich., native thought about transferring after a frustrating sophomore season, but his family encouraged him to finish what he had started at Iowa.

It’s important to remember as we prepare to honor the seniors that the situation isn’t hopeless.

Despite the current skid, Iowa still could tie Indiana for the Big Ten regular-season title. That shows just how well positioned the Hawkeyes were three week ago.

Iowa has to win its last two games against Indiana and Michigan, while Indiana has to lose its last two games against Iowa and Maryland in order for the Hawkeyes to win a share of the Big Ten regular-season title for the first time since 1979.

It might seem like a longshot, but stranger things have happened, like Iowa losing four of its last five games for example.

Senior leaders
Iowa’s four seniors have combined to start 372 games for the Hawkeyes:

Adam Woodbury, 7-1, center, Sioux City, 132 career starts

Mike Gesell, 6-2, guard, South Sioux City, Neb., 125 career starts

Jarrod Uthoff, 6-9, forward, Cedar Rapids, 62 career starts

Anthony Clemmons, 6-1, guard, Lansing, Mich., 53 career starts