By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Every year it happens with the arrival of March Madness.

The hype and hysteria that accompanies this hoops phenomenon always brings back memories of March 22, 1980, a bittersweet day in Iowa men’s basketball history.

To this day, I still remember exactly where I was on that day, plopped right in front of the Zenith television in my parents’ living room watching the Iowa men’s basketball team play Louisville in an NCAA semifinal.

And for 12 marvelous minutes, Iowa point guard Ronnie Lester performed brilliantly, scoring 10 of Iowa’s first 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

Louisville, even with its long and athletic defenders, couldn’t keep Lester from going where he wanted to go on the court as he controlled the tempo and made you believe that Iowa would ultimately prevail.

The excitement grew to where you might have forgotten that Lester was playing on a damaged knee.

But then it happened; the knee gave out approximately 12 minutes into the game and Ronnie Lester’s spectacular career as a Hawkeye was over.

Louisville quickly seized the momentum and would go on to prevail 80-72 on its way to winning the 1980 national title.

There used to a consolation game back then and the Lester-less Hawkeyes fell to Purdue, 75-58.

Iowa hasn’t been back to the Final Four since then, so maybe that’s why Iowa’s loss to Louisville in the 1980 Final Four, and how it happened, still festers.

I had the privilege of interviewing Lester in 2020, marking the 40-year anniversary of Iowa’s march to the 1980 Final Four, and it was clear back then that he had moved on from it more than I had.

“I try to not think about that, but it’s funny,” Lester said in 2020. “There were a couple of ladies that were in Iowa City when I was in school there. They would do scrap books for the senior players and they did a scrap book for me. And I’ve had the chance to go back and look at those scrap books recently and it brings back so many good memories of being at the university, and especially that year getting to the Final Four, although, we experienced a lot of adversity getting there.

“I would have liked to have played my senior year without a knee injury, as anybody would. And I think we would have been one of the better teams in the country that year and not lost many games to be honest with you.”

Lester missed 16 games during the 1979-80 regular season after first injuring his knee against Dayton in the eighth game of the season.

Iowa would go on to finish just 10-8 in the Big Ten, but that was good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

Lester then came back near the end of the regular season, and that’s when something special started brewing.

His teammates, and especially sophomore guard Kenny Arnold, had gained confidence and valuable experience playing without Lester, and that paid huge dividends during the postseason march to the Final Four.

Lester and Arnold were a dynamic backcourt when both were healthy.

They both were also fan favorites, because not only were they good players, they were good guys, easy to like and to respect.

Sadly, Arnold passed away in 2019 after battling with multiple health issues for over three decades.

His courage and determination helped bring the 1980 Final Four team closer together, showing the power of the human spirit.

Former Hawkeye teammate Mike “Tree” Henry dedicated much of his adult life to helping Arnold cope with all the obstacles that came along the way.

They both helped to uplift each other as Henry gained strength just from watching Arnold fight and persevere for so long.

What they shared was the ultimate display of Hawkeyes for life, and once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye.

Arnold’s legacy is a key part of what makes Iowa’s 1980 Final Four team special beyond just what happened on the court.

They were truly the definition of team and it started with the soft-spoken Lester, whose immense talent dwarfed his ego.

He and Arnold shared a special bond, on and off the court.

“He just loved his teammates,” Lester said of Arnold in 2020. “He loved the Iowa experience, as I did. It made us better people. And part of it is your teammates.”

Lute Olson recruited Lester out of Chicago in 1976, and together, they would help to make Iowa relevant again.

In addition to making the 1980 Final Four, Iowa also won a share of the 1978-79 Big Ten regular-season title with a healthy Lester leading the way.

Iowa hasn’t won even a share of a regular-season conference title since then, but has won the Big Ten Tournament three times, most recently in 2022 under former head coach Fran McCaffery.

Iowa will be making its 30th NCAA Tournament appearance when it faces Clemson on Friday in Tampa, Florida, in a matchup between eight and nine seeds.

Just by making the NCAA Tournament in his first season, Iowa head coach Ben McCollum has joined select company as he and Tom Davis are the only Iowa coaches to accomplish that.

Nobody outside of the Iowa locker room probably expects this team to make the Final Four, but the chance to make history always starts with just having the opportunity.

Iowa hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since 1999, so just getting that far would make the current team special. Iowa also has won just five NCAA Tournament games since 2000, which makes what the 1980 squad accomplish even more impressive.

Iowa was poised to make history in 1980 as Ronnie Lester carried the team on his back until his knee succumbed to the weight and strain of competition.

And all these years later, we’re still left asking, what if?

At least, I am.

Some will say it’s time to move on, but March Madness makes it so difficult because part of the madness are the memories that rise to the surface each year.