Host of unknowns for UNI big men

NORTH LIBERTY - Whenever a player of the caliber and importance of Seth Tuttle departs a program, it's inevitable the player's name pops up in their wake.

Whether it's football and David Johnson or men's basketball and Tuttle, what comes next is almost always a reflection of what's left to replace them. For Northern Iowa, there's a quintet of players - each raw and unproven - at Coach Ben Jacobson's disposal to collectively replace the production of the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

As the summer's Prime Time League rolls on, it's clear no one is asking Ted Friedman, Bennett Koch, Klint Carlson or newcomers Justin Dahl and Luke McDonnell to be Seth Tuttle. They're just being asked to improve and produce.

'We're going to have to be ready right out of the gate,” Friedman said. 'I'm going to do whatever the team needs me to do. I'm hoping to get some playing time and do what I can do for the team.

'It's really a great opportunity to use my new scoring mentality and put the work to good use scoring in the post.”

The main front line for last year's MVC Tournament champion Panthers are all gone to graduation, with Marvin Singleton and Nate Buss gone in addition to Tuttle.

Returners Koch and Carlson contributed 1.4 and 0.9 points per game respectively, and only Carlson is playing in the PTL. Koch is out of summer league play nursing a mild ankle injury, according to officials at PTL with knowledge of his situation.

Friedman took a redshirt for what would've been his sophomore year after averaging 0.7 points in 21 games played, three of which he started. The year off did wonders for Friedman's confidence, which was shaken a bit in his ill-fated freshman season in 2013-14.

'I'm coming in with a lot of confidence because of that (redshirt) year,” Friedman said. 'From a basketball aspect, I've worked on becoming a lot better scorer. Before that (redshirt) year I wasn't a great scorer, and right now I'm really focusing on scoring. I'm definitely confident now in the post, being able to score.”

Even with Carlson and Koch playing last year, there's not a lot of MVC-level experience coming back, and both Dahl and McDonnell are true freshmen. As important as the Prime Time League is for the UNI guards to assert their leadership skills and hone what they've already excelled at, it's even more vital for the UNI big men to find what they do well while improving in all areas.

'There's always something left to do. And for me it's just working on everything, I guess - getting better defensively and offensively. There's nothing I don't want to improve on,” Carlson said. 'I'm supposed to be a pick and pop 4. I want to be able to stretch the floor, and the coaching staff wants be to be able to do that.”

The common refrain from each of them has been getting stronger over the summer. Informal, daily team workouts have become the staple in Cedar Falls, and the players know that work is what will get them on the floor.

That's especially true for Dahl and McDonnell, who obviously have no time on a college floor to fall back on. In McDonnell's case, the PTL games have opened his eyes in a big way.

'There's a lot of minutes to be filled, and I definitely have to get stronger if I want to play. I want to play next year, if I can. But I definitely need to do a lot of things before I get there,” McDonnell said. 'I'd like to put a lot of weight on this summer, develop my outside game a little more and work on attacking more. I think since I've been on campus (at UNI) I've been shooting a lot better and working out every day. I think I've improved a lot.”

The best indication to be gleaned from PTL games in regards to new players is how they handle the speed and size of opponents.

Dahl is one who doesn't want for size at 6-foot-10, 225 pounds. But he does lack finesse and some speed. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though.

And as history has shown, if the big men aren't exactly what Jacobson wants now, he and his staff can mold them.

'As a compliment to him, Hayden Fry used to call his offensive linemen 'Big Uglies” and he's one of them,” said Big Ten Network analyst and Dahl's PTL coach Jess Settles. 'You have to remember, those bigs for (UNI) always develop over time. He'll be a different player a couple years from now.

'He's shown a knack for timely rebounding. He needs to learn how to finish in traffic; he's still not taking the bump quite yet. He's got the toughness you can't really coach. On those nights when you need to grind and beat people up, I think he'll be their guy.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com