Iowa center Riley Mulvey more serious after having too much fun last season
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Riley Mulvey apparently is his own worst critic.
The sophomore center from Rotterdam, New York was among five members of the Iowa men’s basketball team that met with the media on Tuesday, and to say that he was tough on himself would be an understatement.
Mulvey didn’t mince words as he admitted that he didn’t work hard enough last season to get better or earn more playing time.
“In the past year, I wasn’t getting in the gym enough,” Mulvey said. “I was just coming to practice and only staying after a little bit, if any at all. And then the only time I would get in the gym by myself was to go shoot and it wasn’t with a coach to get better at skills, and it wasn’t like do better at lifting. It was just to go shoot and kind of just do stuff on my own.
“But this year I’m getting in the with the coaches more and still getting in on my own, and hopefully, be able to make it in the lineup next year.”
The 6-foot-11 Mulvey sacrificed his high school senior year to enroll at Iowa a year early.
That could help to explain his lack of focus and commitment last season, but Mulvey refused to use that as an excuse.
“I’m not going to say anything about that,” Mulvey said. “I was a freshman, but I should have been taking it more seriously and I should have treated it more like a job and less like something I was doing for fun.”
The fact that Mulvey stood before the media and blamed himself for not doing what was necessary to improve last season could be a good sign and a step forward for an Iowa team that needs somebody in the post to emerge.
Mulvey and 6-10 sophomore Josh Ogundele are both trying to crack the rotation and give Fran McCaffery a reliable presence in the post.
That would help to fill the void created by the loss of All-America forward Keegan Murray to the NBA draft, and it also might make it so 6-9 Filip Rebraca could play more at power forward instead of playing out of position as an undersized center.
“I’m definitely more serious about it because this past year I thought I was being serious about it, but after looking back at what I was doing, I wasn’t being serious about it,” Mulvey said.
Fran McCaffery tried to land a post player from the transfer portal this spring, but fell short.
However, just his attempt to land a big man from the portal has sent a message to Mulvey.
“How I felt, it was me, Josh and Filip and didn’t prove ourselves enough to be a strong five-man so he needed to go check for one,” Mulvey said of Fran McCaffery. “And now that he didn’t get one, we’re going to have to prove ourselves to be able to take the spot.”
Mulvey appeared in 17 games last season, totaling 16 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks, and two assists. He also shot at a 50 percent clip from the field (6-of-12) and made all four free throw attempts.
He understands what’s at stake with Iowa needing a post player to emerge.
“As long as I can prove myself, I can actually get in the lineup and play,” Mulvey said.
Mulvey is competing on a daily basis with Ogundele and Rebraca in summer workouts. Each is pushing the other to get better.
“Off the court we’re good friends,” Mulvey said. “But on the court, it’s definitely been a lot more serious since the season ended I’d say because this is where we’re trying to improve ourselves.”
Rebraca, who played three seasons at North Dakota before coming to Iowa as a graduate student, likes what he has seen from Mulvey this offseason.
“I’ve seen good strides from Riley, even from the beginning of last season until the end of the season,” Rebraca said. “He’s gotten a lot more physical and he’s using his body a lot better. I want to keep seeing those things and I want to see him keep shooting and be more aggressive on the offensive end.”
Mulvey hopes to play alongside Rebraca next season because that would show that Mulvey has the trust of Fran McCaffery.
“I’m definitely learning from him, even more now because during the past year I was playing against him a lot more,” Mulvey said of Rebraca. “But now it’s not really playing against him at the moment. It’s just we’re both trying to get better for next year.”
Now that he has one season of college basketball under his belt, Mulvey looks at himself differently.
“I’m not a kid anymore is how I’d put it,” he said.
And while the jump from playing high school basketball to playing Big Ten basketball is significant, Mulvey said his lack of playing time last season had more to do with his approach than with the competition.
“It wasn’t harder than I thought it would be,” Mulvey said. “The only reason that I didn’t make it into the lineup is because I wasn’t as committed as I thought I was.
“And now that I’m actually thinking about it and putting myself out there now, I’ve got to try and do my best.”
Asked if he is his hardest critic in some ways, Mulvey said:
“Some people would say that.”
Earlier this afternoon,Iowa center Riley Mulvey shared his thoughts on how last year went and where he can get better: pic.twitter.com/W7OoH5LqX3
— Dallas Jones (@DallasJonesy) June 21, 2022