Speraw talks about Iowa's current roster

New Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw was able to watch only one workout involving current Iowa basketball players and only four of them showed up. But Speraw said Tuesday morning he liked what he saw from them.

"I really like the young men," Speraw said. "They're very personable, they're very good guys, they worked very hard in the workout I saw. They've got some good skills, they're competitive young men, they're very anxious, they're open-minded.

"It's been tough on them. Any time there's a coaching change. it's very, very tough on the players, the players' families, and the coaches leaving and the coaches coming in. There's always an adjustment time. We're excited to get to know these guys, they're good players, they're young, any time you have youth it takes time to make those adjustments.

"When you're in the in Big Ten youth really shows. So as these guys mature like Matt Gatens; he's now been through it a couple of years. So even though he's had an outstanding two years and played very well, you're going to see a lot of things and it maybe more subtle than many of the average fans might pick up. His play is going to mature and get better in these next two years now just because he's been through it, and he'll be in a position of leadership with the basketball team. Everybody is going to grow and mature. We're excited with these guys and feel that it's a good, solid corps. We've just got to keep adding to that corps."