Iowa players say no animosity between themselves, Anthony Hubbard

NORTH LIBERTY - Iowa men's basketball players said Sunday there was no friction between themselves and former teammate Anthony Hubbard.

Hubbard, 26, quit the team last week, about one month after starting summer school classes. He was given an unconditional release and can play at any school right away.

Iowa's players in unison said there were no signs that Hubbard had planned to leave the team. Iowa senior guard Bryce Cartwright roomed with Hubbard during the last week and said he didn't notice any conflicts between Hubbard and the rest of the players.

"Teammate-wise he was getting along with everybody," Cartwright said. "I talked to him, but it was nothing about the situation. I don't know exactly what happened.

"I haven't seen him the last few days. Like the day after (the announcement), I came home all of his stuff was gone."

Hubbard served nearly four years in prison after participating in a 2003 home robbery. After his release in 2007, he attended two junior colleges and was a second-team All-American junior-college player at Frederick (Md.) Community College last season.

Hubbard, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 230 pounds, was expected to compete for a starting position in Iowa's back court.

Iowa's players were notified of Hubbard's departure on Thursday morning, hours before the school announced he was leaving. Hubbard originally roomed with sophomore Melsahn Basabe, but McCaffery had Hubbard stay with Cartwright until he left.

"I didn't think there was anything planned," Basabe said. "I can't really speak on the situation because that's a personal situation. I will have to let him speak on it. I wish him well. He still is a friend of mine. There's no animosity there.

"There were no internal problems or unhappiness there with Anthony Hubbard being at our school when he was there. Everybody has their own situations and reasons behind their moves. I'm not here to comment on the next man."

Junior Eric May took a class with Hubbard on sports and the media. May said Hubbard's move surprised him.

"It's shocking but you can't really dwell on something like that," May said. "There's nothing you can do. It was his decision; it's how we handle it is the biggest concerning factor.

"We didn't know him that long. It's not like we played two seasons with the guy. We know how to move forward from something like this, and we will."

Cartwright was diplomatic when asked if Hubbard had let down McCaffery, who supported the former player publicly and spent countless hours recruiting him.

"I know they invested a lot of time, an extensive amount of time considering his background," Cartwright said. "But I know that's a delicate situation."

Hubbard's junior-college coach, Frederick's Dave Miller, told the Frederick News-Post, Hubbard "wanted to get close to home, he kind of thought he needed to be home." Hubbard told HuskerOnline that he has had contact with Nebraska since his scholarship release. Hubbard chose Iowa over Nebraska on April 23.