Iowa notes: Basketball starters, White's thumb, Olaseni's toughness (with videos)

Iowa announced its first tentative lineup for Sunday's exhibition (3:35 p.m.) against Division II Northwest Missouri State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The lineup is hardly surprising, considering both the experience and the assorted injuries at competitive spots in training camp.

• PG - Bryce Cartwright, Sr.
• SG - Matt Gatens, Sr.
• SF/SG - Eric May, Jr.
• PF - Melsahn Basabe, So.
• C - Devon Archie, Sr.

Cartwright, Gatens and Basabe were virtual locks entering the season. May started 25 games last year but slumped the final two months last season and lost his starting job to Devyn Marble. May scored in double digits in 10 of Iowa's first 15 games but suffered a leg injury in the Big Ten opener against Illinois. He hit double digits only three times the rest of the season.

May said last year he struggled grasping Iowa's offense.

"It was the whole year," he said. "You're still kind of getting used to it and figuring out how you want to play. It did take a while, a lot longer. I don't know a certain date, but it was just constant adjustments. (Now) we're able to make those adjustments on our own without being told necessarily what to do."

"We're running it really well," May said of the preseason.

Archie will start at center after likely starter Andrew Brommer sprained an MCL the day before practice began.

As for the other spots, sophomore Zach McCabe and freshman Aaron White were the first post players off the bench during Sunday's closed scrimmage against Western Illinois.

"In coach's offense, four and five are interchangeable," White said.

Marble is the primary backup behind Cartwright and Gatens. Freshman Josh Oglesby will spell either May or Gatens at off-guard and play the point in a pinch. Freshman center Gabe Olaseni, who Coach Fran McCaffery cited last week as the team's top rebounder during camp, also will see heavy time at the post.

"In certain games I might play more than others," the 6-foot-10 Olaseni said Wednesday. "Defensively, I think I can play."

Olaseni, a London native, is tall, athletic and can run the floor. He's also raw, and tried to get stronger in practice.

"I think a lot of people expected me to be a little bit behind, but the work I put in over the summer really helped me a lot in the weight room and not being pushed around as much, as happened in Prime Time League," Olaseni said.

"It's a lot more physical (in practice). Sometimes I think guys are trying to attack me out there, guys like Brommer, Melsahn, even Aaron White."

White returns

White sprained two ligaments in his right thumb when it was bent "all the way back" in a workout before the team's first official practice. He sat out four or five days and has worn a split over the thumb until three days ago. Now he just tapes the thumb before practice.

"My hook shot was a little bit affected by it, catching it and passing it," White said. "But once you get a feel for it, it felt fine."