Iowa’s most improved? Consider the cases of Sharon Goodman and Sydney Affolter

IOWA CITY — It seems everybody has a “midseason watch list,” so let’s join the party, for a moment.

Let’s not waste our time with the most valuable player for the Iowa women’s basketball team (duh ... ) or the Hawkeyes’ captain (they call her The Glue).

Instead:

The Hawkeyes’ midseason most improved player? Two of the top candidates were at the media table Wednesday morning.

To the left: Sydney Affolter, i.e. Chicago Tough.

To the right: Sharon Goodman, undeniably the team’s comeback player of the year.

Both have established a prominent and necessary niche for the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes (11-1), who conclude their non-conference slate Thursday against Loyola Chicago (6-4).

Tipoff is 5 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I feel a lightness on our team,” assistant coach Jan Jensen said. “We're staying focused on becoming who we are.

“It's really exciting how it's jelling.”

Finals are behind, then it’s Thursday’s game, then a few days to scatter for the holidays.

For Goodman, it’s a trip home to the family farm — “beef cattle, corn and soybeans,” she said — near Lime Springs, population 475 in Howard County, not far south of the Minnesota border.

“We don't have too much in town,” Goodman said. “The bar changed ownership. I don't know the name of it.”

Goodman was the key component on Crestwood High School’s state-championship team in 2019. But she has been dealt some adversity since.

Her mother, Connie, died of cancer when Sharon was a senior. Then, after a promising freshman year at Iowa, Sharon suffered a torn ACL.

“It's been a long process,” Goodman said. “It's been a journey for sure ... hurt my second year, battling back last year.”

A 6-foot-3 senior post, Goodman is averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and has carried on Iowa’s tradition of high-efficiency low posts, shooting at a 70.5-percent clip.

“Sharon is like an old-school post player in six-on-six,” said Jensen, who specializes in post development. “If you deliver it to her, she's going to be really effective.”

“She's had a lot of strife. For her to have these moments, it's really fun for her. She’s a big teddy bear. She's just lovely. When something goes well, she has this smile. She doesn't want to disappoint on the floor.”

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A junior guard, Affolter has seen her production rise each year, and has become a valuable part of the rotation at 6.6 points and 6.6 rebounds — plus a lot of hustle plays — per game.

“When we recruited Syd, she just had that knack,” Jensen said. “She could bring it down court. She could post up. I think she has Chicago toughness. She's not going to back down from anybody.”

Chicago tough?

“That’s what people say,” Affolter said. “I don’t know.”

It’s a similar trait that former guard Kathleen Doyle possessed.

“We can't coach that,” Jensen said. “When you get them in here and see (that toughness) day in and out, that's when you celebrate.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com