'It's really, really great to be a Hawkeye right now'

IOWA CITY — Jarrod Uthoff saw the image earlier in the day. Adam Woodbury had not. Mike Gesell saw the back of his head. Anthony Clemmons didn't see anything until a reporter showed him.

'Holy Buckets,' Clemmons said, reading the 'Sports Illustrated' headline. 'Good thing we're defending somebody.'

The Iowa basketball program, which tumbled to a school-worst 10-22 season in 2010 before Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery arrived on campus, now adorns the regional cover of the nation's foremost sporting magazine. It's the first time since 1966 the Hawkeyes landed on the cover. As expected, players and coaches had different reactions to the publicity.

The cover photo and story, which is written by Brian Hamilton, features Uthoff, who leads the Big Ten in scoring at 18.6 points per game. Uthoff has ignited a basketball program on the verge of a third straight NCAA berth, something the program hasn't done since the 1991 through 1993 seasons.

An Iowa coach informed Uthoff via text that he is on the cover. But you'd never know it based on his response.

'It was pretty neat,' Uthoff said with little inflection in his voice.

But when asked about what he thought about being on the cover, Uthoff perked up.

'To me it's about us,' Uthoff said. 'It's about the Hawkeyes and what we've accomplished as a team. It's nothing about what I've done as an individual. I think we've come a long ways with this program, this year. People predicted us at the bottom of the Big Ten, and we've proven we can play with anyone.'

That's the kind of response Woodbury figured Uthoff would give.

'I'm sure when you guys asked him about it, he didn't care,' Woodbury said. 'That's a part of his deal.'

Iowa (17-4, 8-1 Big Ten) entered Thursday tied with Indiana atop the league standings and ranked fifth by the Associated Press and seventh by the USA Today/Coaches poll.

It's been a gradual climb upward for the program under McCaffery. In his first season, Iowa finished 11-20. Following two consecutive NIT berths, the Hawkeyes have reached the last two NCAA tournaments. Last year Iowa won its first NCAA tournament game since 2001.

The surge from irrelevance to NCAA title contender is not lost on McCaffery. He remains focused on Iowa's next game — 6 p.m. Wednesday against Penn State (11-11, 2-7) — but he appreciates the recognition.

'It's a reflection of what they've accomplished,' McCaffery said. 'I think you always want that to be the case for your guys. When you see them working as hard as our guys work, you want to see them recognized properly, so I think it's a terrific honor. Great respect for that publication, and we're happy to be on it.'

It's the second time in barely two months Iowa athletics has graced Sports Illustrated. In late November, Iowa tight end George Kittle was featured on the cover as the football program finished the regular season unbeaten. The school previously never had both sports on SI covers in one athletic school year.

'It shows that we've continued to get better and better every year,' Gesell said. 'I think that we've done a tremendous job of not letting that get to any of our heads and just staying level and getting better every day. It's cool to have that national recognition, especially with the season football had and now the season we're having.

'It's really, really great to be a Hawkeye right now.'

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com