Iowa’s Wagner looks to make early impact

NORTH LIBERTY - Iowa freshman Ahmad Wagner has the athletic ability and size to compete at a place of need after Aaron White's graduation.

But Wagner's earliest impact for Iowa's basketball team likely won't come as a primary scorer. The good part for the Hawkeyes is that Wagner, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward, is mature enough to realize that.

'Wherever coach (Fran McCaffery) needs me to play,” Wagner said Sunday after scoring seven points in the PTL. 'In his system, the small forward and power forward are interchangeable. Whatever he needs me to play, I'm willing to do. It's easy right now, a defender basically, a lockdown one. Just be able to go on offense and create for other people and create for myself.”

Wagner's role won't be determined for several months, but there's no question his versatility makes him an attractive player for Iowa in the future. Wagner was a second-team all-state basketball player for Wayne (H.S.) in Huber Heights, Ohio this year. He scored eight points in the Ohio Division 1 title game to lift Huber Heights to the state championship.

In football, Wagner was named first-team all-state as a wide receiver and pushed his squad to second place. In track, Wagner anchored the 4x100 relay squad to a fourth-place finish. In those two sports, Wagner admits he was a novice, but he showed enough attention to garner interest from many Division I college programs.

'I thought I wouldn't be that much of a help in football, so that's what I told the team actually,” Wagner said. 'They told me just come out and have some fun and that's what I did. I ended up being pretty good I guess. I'm pretty excited.

'A lot of teams were coming in and telling me if I wanted to play football, say the word and they'd offer me a scholarship. I told them that I was pretty dedicated to Iowa.”

That includes Big Ten and NCAA football champion Ohio State.

'They talked to me a lot, they came to my games,” Wagner said. 'When it came down to an offer ... they said, ‘Listen, we know you're committed to Iowa. We're not going to offer you any scholarships while you're committed. But if you want to play football here, we'll offer you a scholarship. I just told them that I'm committed to Iowa and I want to play here. It wasn't really that tough.”

Wagner loves basketball and he's pushing himself in workouts to show he's committed. He learned that from Wayne High School Coach Travis Trice Sr., whom Wagner called 'a great man and he's one of my role models.” Wagner also considers his coach's son, former Michigan State guard Travis Trice Jr., as a mentor.

Their families are close and Wagner watched Trice Jr.'s blistering 25-point performance at Iowa in January with great interest. After the game, Trice Jr., raved about Wagner and the impact he'll have at Iowa.

'That's my guy,” Trice Jr. said of Wagner. 'They're expecting a guy who's going to give his heart and soul. He's one of those guys who's extremely loyal. If you tell him to go through the wall, he'll do it for you.

'Extremely hardworking and humble kid. He'll fit in perfect here, especially with the bigs and kind of the wings that (the Hawkeyes) got and the thing is, he's always improving. Now he's starting to work on his handle, his jump shot and all those things. I can't wait to watch him next year. They should be excited about him.”

Improvement is essential for any college athlete, and that's what Wagner is focused on during summer drills. He knows he has a long way to go before he becomes a finished product.

'I've got to get a better understanding of the game, really,” he said, 'knowing how to move without the ball, play more on the perimeter, guard more positions and everything. Be a smarter player.”

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