The Northern Iowa men’s basketball team has incentive that Iowa can’t match
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The men’s basketball rivalry between Iowa and Northern Iowa is special for lots of reasons, but one reason stands above all the others.
The real fuel for the rivalry comes from the fact that not one single player on Northern Iowa’s current roster had a scholarship offer from Iowa. And that includes senior star Jeremy Morgan, who grew up in Coralville and whose father played basketball for the Hawkeyes in the 1980s.
Iowa’s current roster, on the other hand, is filled with players who had scholarship offers from Northern Iowa.
In fact, the Panthers were the first school to offer a scholarship to Iowa freshman point guard Jordan Bohannon and the second to offer Iowa freshman forward Cordell Pemsl. Iowa freshman forward Ryan Kriener also had a scholarship offer from Northern Iowa.
Northern Iowa has 10 Iowa natives on its current roster who share one thing in common when it comes to the Hawkeyes. Junior guard Wyatt Lohaus is part of that group. Lohaus, like Morgan, is also the son of a former Iowa basketall player (Brad Lohaus), a graduate of Iowa City West High School and a player to whom Iowa didn't offer a scholarship.
Pride is a powerful motivator that could have an impact when 5-5 Iowa and 5-4 Northern Iowa square off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Big Four Classic at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The game is part of an in-state doubleheader, with Drake and Iowa State meeting in the second game.
“This is honestly probably a bigger rivalry than Iowa State just knowing how many Iowa kids they have on their team and the success they’ve had these last couple years making it to the (NCAA) Tournament and just how well they play together and how well coached they are,” Bohannon said of Northern Iowa. “We’re all really good friends and we all talk to each other. But once we get on the court, it’s a different level.”
Bohannon has seen the rivalry from both sides as the younger brother of former Northern Iowa shooting guard Matt Bohannon, who used up his eligibility last season.
The players from both teams know each other personally as many competed with and against each other in high school and on the AAU circuit. They also competed with and against each other in the Prime Time League over the summer in North Liberty.
“It’s going to be a different element to the game just because we know each other and what they’re going to do,” Bohannon said.
That’s true.
But the driving force for the Panthers still is the scholarship issue whether anybody would admit it or not. You could argue that it gives them a mental edge that Iowa can’t match.
This isn’t to say that the Northern Iowa players are bitter or have a right to be bitter. Maybe some are, but it’s more a case of them wanting to prove a point against an opponent that is perceived to have more of everything.
There isn’t one player on the Northern Iowa roster, including Morgan, who was considered a Big Ten-caliber recruit in high school.
So it’s not that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery openly snubbed anybody on the current Northern Iowa roster.
McCaffery explained to reporters on Wednesday why he gave his one available scholarship in 2013 to senior Peter Jok instead of Morgan.
“Jeremy has always been a terrific player,” McCaffery said. “I saw him when he was a young kid and watched on the AAU circuit. I really wanted to have him badly, but we only had one scholarship. And we needed a shooter in the worst way in that class.
“Jeremy was always a great player and a great scorer. He’s become a terrific shooter, who was always a good shooter. We felt like Pete was the best fit at that time. If we would have had two scholarships or three scholarships, he would have been offered one without any hesitation.”
Jok has fit nicely into McCaffery’s fast-paced offense as a prolific scorer, while Morgan has thrived under head coach Ben Jacobson as an all-around player. The 6-foot-5 Morgan is known more for his defensive prowess, but that could change with him having scored 38 points in the second half of last Saturday’s game against North Dakota.
The scholarship situation is nothing new in the rivalry. Iowa routinely has in-state players on its roster who had scholarship offers from Northern Iowa, whereas the Panthers rarely have a player on their roster with an Iowa offer.
Iowa’s rivalry with Iowa State is different in that regard because the two teams sometimes compete for the same recruits. Former Iowa State star forward Georges Niang actually picked the Cyclones over Iowa.
It didn’t really matter whether the Panthers had extra incentive against Iowa until the rivalry became competitive. The two teams have split the last 14 meetings and that probably had something to do with the creation of the Big Four Classic.
It became too difficult for Iowa and Iowa State to play Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, so now they get to face the Panthers on a neutral court.
Northern Iowa defeated Iowa 56-44 in the Big Four Classic two years ago.
The Panthers had plenty of incentive two years ago, including a roster filled with players who mostly didn’t get a sniff from Big Ten schools, including Iowa.
That's one source of motivation that Iowa can’t match.