Harty: Iowa’s four senior starters can gain inspiration from Kirk Ferentz
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Before the 2015 college football season, I wrote a column expressing hope that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz would lead another resurgence.
His legacy was being tarnished by a lack of success and fans were getting restless and more vocal with their displeasure.
The only cure was to win, and that’s what Ferentz did, leading Iowa to a school record 12 victories, to the Big Ten West Division title and to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1991.
I mention Ferentz because that’s who came to mind as I started writing this column about the four senior starters on the Iowa men’s basketball team.
What could Ferentz possibly have in common with the four seniors on the Iowa basketball team besides school affiliation you ask?
The four seniors – forward Jarrod Uthoff, center Adam Woodbury and guards Anthony Clemmons and Mike Gesell – are sort of in the same position right now as Ferentz was before the start of the 2015 football season.
Ferentz was thought to be running out of time to redeem himself, while we know the four seniors on the Iowa basketball team have little time left.
Lose one more game and it’ll be over for the seniors. They will immediately become former Hawkeyes should Iowa lose to Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Brooklyn, N.Y.
My hope is that the four seniors will survive the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament because advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 would go a long way in removing the stench from Iowa’s late-season collapse.
It would allow for the seniors to leave on a high note and secure their legacy as a group.
It would be a case in which something good happens to four young men who deserve it.
That’s how it was with Ferentz heading into the 2015 football season. The only thing Ferentz hadn’t done well in his job recently was win enough games.
Ferentz had handled every other part of his job with dignity and grace, much like the four seniors on the Iowa men’s basketball team have handled their roles as student-athletes.
They just haven’t won enough games to please all the fans.
But consider what they have done:
They’ve been a part of four consecutive 20-win seasons.
They’ve combined to start 384 games.
They’ve played a significant role in leading Iowa to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since a three-season stretch from 1990-93.
They’ve achieved numerous academic accolades, highlighted by Uthoff being named Academic All-America of the Year this season.
And they’ve thrived as citizens.
The thought of any of Iowa’s four seniors making the police blotter is laughable.
They have been true ambassadors for the program, and pioneers in some respects.
They came to Iowa when Fran McCaffery was selling hope and playing time, but little else. They took a leap of faith and will leave the program in much better shape than when they arrived regardless of what happens in the NCAA Tournament.
“I always tell people, that’s the thing I’m most proud of in my career is the steps we’ve made every single year,” said Gesell, who this season became Iowa’s career leader in assists. “It’s been a lot of fun and we’re looking to finish it off right.”
Accountability is yet another strength of the four seniors. They don’t make excuses, nor do they point fingers during times of adversity like now with Iowa having lost six of its last eight games.
McCaffery busted his butt recruiting Woodbury and Gesell because he knew they could help lead the resurgence. The fact that Woodbury played center, while Gesell was a point guard made them more appealing to McCaffery.
The 7-foot-1 Woodbury could’ve signed with North Carolina or some other blue blood program, but he grew up in Sioux City cheering for the Hawkeyes. He also trusted McCaffery and believed in McCaffery’s vision.
Gesell grew up across the river in the South Sioux City, Neb. He wasn’t an Iowa fan before McCaffery started recruiting him.
“They are kind of exactly what I thought they would be,” McCaffery said of Woodbury and Gesell. “They are winning players with great character, hard workers, great teammates, in terms of how they prepare, how they work in the summer, how they work in the weight room, how they work in the off-season and how they communicate with the younger guys.
“They both are really good that way. And it’s so important when you’re trying to build a program and you’re trying to build a team that has some depth.”
Uthoff has the starring role among the four seniors, but he’d never say that. With Uthoff, it’s all about just fitting in with his teammates and winning games.
His low-key personality and team-first attitude made it easy for the 6-9 Uthoff to fit in after he transferred from Wisconsin after his freshman season.
And let’s not forget about Clemmons, who briefly considered transferring after struggling during his sophomore season. But the Lansing, Mich., native looked in the mirror, challenged himself to get better and stayed the course at Iowa.
"It was important for me to finish what I started here at Iowa," Clemmons said earlier in the season. "Coach McCaffery took a chance on me and I didn’t want to let him down."
Clemmons has started every game this season and thrived as a defensive stopper.
One of the neatest things about the four senior starters is that they seem to have a genuine respect for each other. They’ve grown up together, from teenagers to young men.
They’ve helped to rebuild a Big Ten program, while also preparing for life after basketball.
Now if they could just win two or three games in the NCAA Tournament, we’d have the perfect ending.