Iowa players underwhelmed by rankings

IOWA CITY - Aaron White found out some important news Monday afternoon, only it wasn't that important to him.

The Iowa men's basketball program earned its first ranking since 2006, debuting in the USA Today/Coaches poll at No. 25. White, however, shrugged off the news like it was a good job ticket in the workplace.

“Somebody tweeted it at me,” said White, a junior forward. “I don't really follow that stuff. It's cool that we're ranked, and I think we've got a long ways to go. But I think we can be even higher than we are. We've just got to keep playing well and not let stuff like that get to our head and just keep playing our game on a game-by-game basis.”

Iowa (4-0) plays host to Penn (1-2) tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes have blown out their first four opponents by an average of 40 points, and that's including an eight-point victory against scrappy Nebraska-Omaha.

In the last two games Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery pulled leading scorers White and Devyn Marble just a handful of minutes into the second half. Iowa rolled Maryland-Eastern Shore 109-63, then crushed Abilene Christian 103-41.

McCaffery won't get too excited over those wins, however. He said Thursday he's happy with his team's progress, “but I think somewhat guarded.” Maryland-Eastern Shore beat Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday, and Abilene Christian lost by only seven at TCU. Iowa's opening opponent, UNC-Wilmington, has won three straight games.

“Some of those teams have obviously played really well,” McCaffery said. “Maybe you look and say I'm underestimating what we've accomplished, but I just think we have to prove more.”

His players agree. That's why the excitement over rankings is muted.

“To be honest, a ranking in November doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't mean anything,” White said. “It doesn't mean you're going to the NCAA tournament. It doesn't mean you're going to be one of the best 25 teams at the end of the of the year. That's when it matters, the end of the year. So that's what we're working for.”

“It was the first time in my career we've been ranked so from that standpoint, there was some happiness,” Marble said. “At the end of the day it doesn't matter.”

OGLESBY UPDATE

Iowa junior guard Josh Oglesby remains on target to return by late December from a broken foot. But with a pin holding his foot together and the potential for damage, there's also a possibility Oglesby also could red-shirt.

“We would think about redshirting him only if he came back and just was completely ineffective or had a setback,” McCaffey said. “We fully expect him to recover. He's on pace. But it's just one of those things, you insert a pin in somebody's foot, you're going to have to wait pretty much the full six weeks. But he's working out diligently in the pool and on the bike and things like that.”