IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery is determined to make his team better on defense after what occurred last season, and according Jordan Bohannon, that’s been obvious throughout the offseason.

Bohannon was the guest on Monday’s KCJJ/AllHawkeyes radio show and he said defense is being emphasized in practice like never before.

And for good reason.

Iowa is coming off a season in which it finished 14-19 overall and 4-14 in the Big Ten, while ranking at or near the bottom of the conference in most defensive statistical categories.

Bohannon said the coaches are handing out awards on a daily basis for those who perform the best on defense in practice.

NCAA rules now allow coaches to spend up to eight hours with their players during the summer. And it sounds as if McCaffery is using most of that time to coach defense.

Bohannon said he doesn’t consider last season a fluke or a wake-up call. He thinks it was just part of a process that will continue to sort itself out this coming season.

He also addressed the end of both the Prime Time League and the Hy-Vee Classic.

Bohannon said the new NCAA rules make it hard to fit the PTL games into the schedules of the Iowa players. But he will miss the popular summer league and he praised PTL founder and commissioner Randy Larson for working so hard over the past 31 years to make the league a success.

The decision to end the Hy-Vee Classic was disappointing to Bohannon. He likes playing against Drake and Northern Iowa.

In fact, Bohannon said Monday that he would prefer to face both schools on a home-and-away basis and would enjoy playing at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls and at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

The interview with Bohannon starts about 75 minutes into the podcast, which lasts for approximately 100 minutes overall.

Bohannon also talked about his missed free throw against Northwestern that would have broken Chris Street’s school record for consecutive makes at 34. Bohannon said he has been overwhelmed by the amount of feedback and support that he has received from people from all over the world.

So if you’re looking for some Iowa basketball talk in June, this podcast is for you. We appreciate Jordan’s time and his valuable insight and think you will, too.

http://allhawkeyes.com/podcasts/?name=2018-06-18_all_hawkeyes_podcast_404.mp3