Jarrod Uthoff hopes to join select group of former Hawkeyes
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Jarrod Uthoff is about to enter into a world where former Iowa basketball players have struggled to survive.
The 6-foot-9 forward is expected to be selected in the NBA Draft, which will be held Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn N.Y. The draft only has two rounds and most of the draft gurus have Uthoff being taken in the second round, although Chad Ford from ESPN has ranked Uthoff as high as No. 25 overall.
So it’s fair to say that Uthoff is in the mix after spending five years polishing his skills in college.
The soft-spoken kid from Cedar Rapids is now a 23-year old soft-spoken young man with what appears to be an NBA future waiting for him.
“He’s versatile and he’s got a 6-11 wing span and he can shoot it; he’s got mid-range ability,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said of Uthoff on a pre-draft teleconference. “He’s actually proved to be a really good shot-blocker on the perimeter. You wonder, though, is that going to translate on the defensive end once he gets into the NBA?
"He can knock down shots, space the floor and I think he can hang on the defensive end. As long as he gets with the right team, I think he can be a help to somebody.”
Making an NBA roster would put Uthoff in select company as a former Hawkeye.
Iowa has had 31 players selected in the NBA draft since 1976, but fewer than half of them actually made an NBA roster and even fewer than that have lasted in the league for at least five seasons.
That list includes Ronnie Lester, Bob Hansen, Brad Lohaus, Kevin Gamble, B.J. Armstrong, Matt Bullard, Ricky Davis and Ryan Bowen.
Throw in power forward Reggie Evans, who wasn’t drafted coming out of Iowa, but still played 13 seasons in the NBA from 2002-15 for seven different teams, and that’s just nine former Hawkeyes who have played in the NBA for at least five seasons since the mid-1970s.
Former Iowa center Acie Earl barely missed making the list after playing four seasons in the NBA in the mid-1990s.
Davis is the last Hawkeye to be taken in the first round of the NBA Draft in 1998 after playing just one season at Iowa.
But he was physical freak at 6-foot-7, powered by superb quickness and leaping ability.
Uthoff isn’t as explosive as Davis was coming out of Iowa, but you could argue that Uthoff is more polished as a player and more versatile.
Uthoff has a unique skill set that allowed him to become just the second Big Ten Conference player in the last two decades to record 150-plus blocks and 125 3-pointers in a career.
He has a rare combination of length and perimeter shooting skills, and a strong work ethic to match.
Making an NBA roster is an enormous challenge, beyond the realm of possibility for all but a tiny and uniquely gifted group of athletes.
The NBA has 30 teams that consist of 15 players, including 12 or 13 on the active list. That’s just 450 roster spots overall for a sport that attracts talent from all over the world.
Unlike football, which is played primarily in the United States and Canada, basketball has international appeal.
This past season marked the second consecutive season in which the NBA had at least 100 international players on its rosters. That’s nearly a fourth of the players overall.
Assuming Uthoff gets drafted, that would mark three years in a row that an Iowa player was picked in the NBA Draft. That hasn’t happened since the late 1980s.
It’s more impressive to do it now, though, because the NBA Draft only has two rounds, whereas in years past it’s had double-digit rounds. Fifteen of the 31 former Hawkeyes that were selected in the NBA draft since 1976 were taken in the third round or later.
Forward Aaron White was taken in the second round and 49th overall by the Washington Wizards in last year’s draft. But he didn’t make the roster, instead playing overseas as a rookie.
Uthoff has worked out for several NBA teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers.
For a player in his category, finding the right fit is crucial to making an NBA roster and sticking in the league.
One of the knocks against Uthoff is that he plays timid at times, causing him to be inconsistent. His performance against Iowa State this past season when he scored 30 of his 32 points in the first half has been used to fuel that argument.
Criticism goes with the territory, though, with so much money on the line.
Anyone taken in the first round is guaranteed a two-year NBA contract, while those taken in the second round get nothing but an opportunity.
Either way, Uthoff is venturing into mostly uncharted territory for a former Hawkeye trying to make the NBA. Just getting this far is an accomplishment by itself.
2016 NBA Draft
Date: June 23
Time: 7 p.m CST
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
TV: ESPN