Team should learn from year, emerge stronger

Pride and passion. That is what the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball season lacked. Their season ended after a gut wrenchingly painful performance against the Tennessee Volunteers. The expectations around the program were very high after a strong 2012-13 season, which ended in the Hawkeyes being the NIT runner-up. Fans believed that the Hawkeyes should not only make the NCAA Tournament but advance deep into the tournament. But fans watched as the Hawkeyes were beaten by a team in Tennessee that was physically and mentally tougher.

The Hawkeyes had a season full of peaks and valleys. This year was the chance to prove to the country that the Hawks were a team capable of great accomplishments. That is what Pat McCaffery would have wanted. Instead, the Hawks have been sent to a spiraling abyss of what could have been. Let's hope that the Hawks will learn from this season and come out stronger next year.

Joshua Lawrence

Cedar Rapids