By Dylan Burn

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men's basketball team barely missed making the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Hawkeyes were one of four teams on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s “First Four Out” list, which made them a No. 1 seed for the National Invitation Tournament.

That ended a streak of three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Fran McCaffery, but his current team looks poised to make a return trip to the Big Dance.

However, there are still questions that surround McCaffery's young squad, along with its promising potential. Let's take a closer look by asking these following questions:

How Does Fran McCaffery Handle Frontcourt Rotation?

This might be the deepest frontcourt McCaffery has had in eight seasons at Iowa with all the frontcourt players returning from a year ago, highlighted by 6-foot-9, 253-pound sophomore forward Tyler Cook, who was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshmen Team last season. Cook had his ups and downs during his freshman season, as he battled with injuries and struggled defensively. But he came on strong down the stretch and capped off his first year in Iowa City by averaging just over 12 points and 5 rebounds per contest. Cook also shot over 50% from the field in his final six games, including 15-of-15 from the field during Iowa’s two-game run in the NIT.

Sophomore forward Cordell Pemsl had a fine freshman season, but much like Cook, he was inconsistent. Pemsl started 14 of Iowa’s 34 games last season with the first coming on the road at Notre Dame in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Iowa lost that game, but Pemsl performed well, scoring 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field).

Pemsl has a true post game and can score in a variety of ways near the basket, which is something the other forwards lack to a degree. Pemsl has good feet and a soft touch around rim.

Assuming he recovers from an off-season sports hernia surgery, Pemsl should have a significant role. The early guess here is that Pemsl likely will come off the bench, yielding starting spots to Cook and 6-foot-11 freshman Luka Garza.

The other key returning frontline players are senior Dom Uhl, sophomore Ryan Kriener, junior Ahmad Wagner, and junior Nicholas Baer if Fran McCaffery decides to go small.

The 6-foot-9 Uhl, at least for now, looks like he could be the odd man out of the frontcourt rotation. He just hasn’t shown the ability to knock down shots or perform with any consistency. Uhl did perform well during an early stretch of his sophomore season, and if he can return to that form, then minutes should be available.

Kriener is an intriguing option because much like Nicholas Baer, he doesn't take plays off and his shooting range extends beyond the 3-point arc. Kriener's ability to make shots should earn him a key role in the rotation.

Wagner could be another candidate to lose some minutes because he is limited offensively compared to the other frontline players. Wagner gives Iowa another energy guy off the bench, but he mostly scores by grabbing offensive rebounds or by dunking in transition. 

One of the biggest challenges for McCaffery will be finding minutes for Luka Garza and for fellow freshman Jack Nunge, who also stands about 6-foot-11 and is multi-skilled and ready to contribute. 

Garza appears capable of filling the void Adam Woodbury left a couple of seasons ago, but is more skilled on offense than Woodbury was at the same stage.

What they share is the kind of size that Iowa lacked from not having a true center last season, but that all changes with the 6-foot-11 250-pound Garza now on the roster. He averaged 22.5 points and just a shade over 10 rebounds per game for Iowa during the European trip in August, and was clearly Iowa’s best frontcourt player

And though it was against sub-par competition, you still can’t overlook Garza's production in limited minutes. He can score down low. He can step out and hurt you, and even if you want to play hack-a-Garza, he's also a pretty good free throw shooter. Iowa hasn't had a big man of Garza’s caliber in a while.

Nunge also could take minutes from some of the veteran players. He’s similar in height to Garza, but is more of a slender stretch-four type of player in the mold of former Hawkeye Jarrod Uthoff.

Overall, McCaffery has a good problem in that fatigue shouldn't be a problem on the frontline because he can use his bench without there being much of a drop-off in production. However, having a deep rotation also could create problems as McCaffery tries to find minutes for all of his talented frontcourt players.

How Does Iowa Replace Peter Jok’s Lost Points?

Even though Iowa returns most of it’s roster, replacing Peter Jok won't be easy. He led the Big Ten in scoring last season at slightly less than 20 points per game. Jok also shot 38 percent from 3-point range, making nearly three treys per game. And he played nearly 31 minutes per game as a senior.

Sophomore Isaiah Moss is the likely replacement for Jok at shooting guard. But it probably would be asking too much for Moss to fill Jok's scoring void by himself.

Moss showed flashes of brilliance during his redshirt freshman season. The Chicago native scored 21 points against Stetson early in the season and 15 points in the first half against Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. 

McCaffery will need other players to step up in order to fill Jok’s void as a scorer and perimeter shooter.

The Iowa players had a tendency to wait for Jok to make something happen on offense. But there isn't one player on the current team who will dominate the ball like Jok often did last season.

Jordan Bohannon will be expected to make some big shots from the perimter, but he also has other responsibilities as the starting point guard.

How Does Pemsl Rebound from Sports Hernia Surgery?

I mentioned earlier that Iowa has a bunch of front-court players, but Cordell Pemsl's recovery from off-season surgery still is a big factor. Pemsl brings a lot to this team. He’s an emotional guy who gets after you on the court, and he’s one of the better finishers in the Big Ten after shooting over 61 percent from the field as a true freshman.

Pemsl has dealt with injuries before, so he's used to overcoming obstacles.

The former Dubuque Wahlert star scored in double figures 15 times during his freshman season and tallied 14 or more points in seven of those games. Pemsl hit a rough patch late in the season, which caused him to lose his starting position.

Depth at Point Guard Could Still be an Issue?

Iowa’s situation at point guard is almost identical to last season and that turned out okay. Jordan Bohannon was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, but there wasn’t much after him as Christian Williams struggled to take a step forward.

Bohannon has the mental toughness and awareness to carry the Hawekyes for the next three seasons, but he struggles on defense, especially with regard to stopping other point guards from getting to the basket.

He also struggled to finish near the basket, considering he only shot 32 percent from inside the 3-point arc.

The hope is that the 6-foot-5 Williams takes a step forward this season. He is quick enough and long enough to get past defenders and into the lane, but has struggled to do so. Williams' length makes him a better defender than Bohannon, but Bohannon is vastly superior on offense and that gives him a big edge with regard to playing time.

Progress on the Defensive End of the Floor?

Iowa finished last season ranked 301^st out of 351 Division One teams in scoring defense, allowing just over 78 points per game. The players looked sloppy on defense during early-season losses to Memphis and Notre Dame when Iowa allowed 100 and 92 points, respectively.

The situation on defense improved as the season wore on, but there still was a lack of consistency. Iowa looked particularly bad in the postseason, allowing 95 points to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament, and 94 to Texas Christian University in the second-round of the NIT, albeit that game went into overtime.

You could argue that Iowa’s quick style of play is partly to blame for the defensive woes. McCaffery likes to get up and down the court and to score at a fast pace. But that leaves a team vulnerable on transition defense and that's probably where Iowa struggled the most on defense last season, especially without a true rim protector.

When 7-foot-1 center Adam Woodbury played for Iowa, he ran the floor well and would run rim-to-rim to make sure Iowa had someone closing up that lane and protecting the basket. Opposing players are more hesitant to attack the basket if they know a true rim protector will be waiting for them.

Garza probably will be asked to do a lot of the things that Woodbury did with regard to protecting the basket. Iowa’s defense should be improved with more size in the post and assuming the returning players mature.

There is a lot to like about this Iowa team, and a lot to be excited about. Iowa has the potential to finish in the upper half of the Big Ten along with Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue and Northwestern. 

Iowa will tip-off it’s season against Chicago State on Nov. 10 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa also will hold its annual media day event on Monday.