As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my dad went to Iowa and they are my 2nd favorite team. This is the only time he won't be cheering for Syracuse and the only time I won't be cheering for Iowa. Anyway here is my Hawkeye preview.
PG Jordan Bohannon is their PG and really the heart and soul of the team. However, he just had hip surgery and has said he will take a redshirt next year if he's not fully healthy in time for the season. He averaged nearly 12 points and 4 assists last year while not being fully healthy most of the year. That would be a huge loss if he does end up redshirting, which appears likely at this point. Backup options are redshirt sophomore Conner McCaffery and true freshman Joe Toussaint from Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx. McCaffery played 19 minutes/game last year as a RS freshman, after coming off an injury. He's a solid floor general (102 assists 43 turnovers) but he stunk as a shooter (6-29 on 3's and 36% overall FG) He's supposed to be a better shooter than that, so we'll see this year.
SG. Isaiah Moss was supposed to be their returning senior, but decided to graduate transfer to Arkansas. He was a streaky shooter averaging 9.2 PPG in 24 minutes. The thinking is he wanted to go to a school where he could be "the man" and play more than 24 minutes. In his place, they are probably looking at redshirt freshman CJ Frederick. They are also in the running for Bakari Evelyn, a grad transfer from Valparaiso who scored 13 PPG as a sophomore, but then slumped to 9 PPG as a junior dealing with an ankle injury.
SF Joe Weiskamp. This is probably the highlight matchup of the game vs Elijah Hughes. Weiskamp averaged 11 PPG on 48% FG and 42% 3 point FG and I think will take a huge step up this year and lead the team in scoring. He is the all time leading Iowa high school scorer and tested NBA waters, but not seriously. He just wanted to go through some workouts but is coming back.
PG Tyler Cook left after his junior year for the NBA, so there could be one of three options at this position. 6-11 Jack Nunge is a redshirt sophomore. He played as a freshman, but redshirted last year rather than play limited minutes behind Cook. As a freshman, he averaged 5.7 PPG and 2.8 rebounds and scored 18 vs Ohio State and 16 vs Iowa State so he showed some potential. He's probably my favorite to start,but they have 2 other options. 6-8 Cordell Pemsl will be a redshirt JR. He took a medical redshirt last year and averaged 5.7 PPG and 4.5 as a sophomore the year before. They also have 6-9 Ryan Kreiner who can play PF or C and averaged 5.7 PPG and 3 rebs in 14 minutes. All three guys will play as McCaffery plays a deep bench, but I think Nunge starts and I think he is a promising player.
C Junior Luka Garza averaged 12 PPG and 6 rebounds as a sophomore last year and I think will be a bad matchup for us. I think Marek will be our best way to matchup here unless Sidibe shows up healthy or Ajak/Edwards comes ready to play out of the gate. Garza is a good inside and outside player. He made 21 3's last year, but I think he is one of the players where the longer distance will still be a factor. But we will have to watch him both inside and outside.
Iowa is a fun offensive team, but can be very streaky. They are an awful defensive team though. McCaffery mixes both man and zone, when they bother to play defense at all. They were better on that end last year but it's still not a strength and one of Fran's weaknesses as a coach imho.
If Bohannon does end up playing, I think this will be a very tough game to win, even in the Dome. That trio of Bohannon, Weiskamp and Garza would be solid. But things don't look promising for him to play at this point.
If that's the case, I think it will be a close matchup. Both teams would be working in a new starting PG with some experience last year (Carey vs McCaffery) As I mentioned, I think C will be a decided advantage for Iowa. But without Bohannon, I think we'll win a close matchup that could go either way.