Jordan Bohannon ready to be marked man for Iowa

IOWA CITY — A couple weeks ago, at Iowa men's basketball media day, point guard Jordan Bohannon was asked about a new leadership role forcing him to grow up quickly.

He laughed, and said, 'Pete (Jok) kind of forced me to grow up already. He was kind of a jerk sometimes to me.'

A jerk, really?

Jok, when relayed that anecdote, got a good laugh as well. He didn't deny it.

'I might've told him in a hard way, but I also said things calmly, so I guess I can see where that's coming from,' Jok told The Gazette in a phone interview.

There was a big-brother, little-brother relationship between the two and a lot of that had to do with how similar they are in terms of mentality on the court. They're shooters (plus plenty of other things, sure, but let's be honest: they're shooters first and foremost).

Bohannon went to Jok quite a bit last year for advice, and that hasn't stopped. Maybe the older brother kind of interactions aren't the same — Jok said he didn't want to waste time coddling anyone during his senior year — but the advice is. Bohannon is going to be the same marked man this year Jok was for the Hawkeyes last year.

With no Jok there to attract so much attention, Bohannon gets it as the resident 3-point-shooting threat.

'I didn't think of it like that, but I always tried to give him advice about what I went through my freshman year,' Jok said. 'I've talked to him all summer. I text him when he was overseas to see how he was doing. I talk to a lot of guys, but I talk to him the most.

'I texted him what I was seeing from Tyler Ulis and (Eric) Bledsoe and trying to give him advice from what I see from them and how he can use that as he goes on in his career at Iowa.'

Bohannon is used to tough love. The youngest of the four Bohannon brothers, his skin has been thickened by years of being the one picked on and prodded by talented older brothers. Jason, Zach and Matt haven't stopped doing that, of course — Jordan said after an air ball in the exhibition opener he fully expected all three to give him a hard time about it, as an example — but having a former teammate share such advice in dealing with such a relatable experience speaks volumes.

Their conversations focused heavily on how Bohannon can use being a marked man to his and his teammates' advantage. Bohannon was the beneficiary a lot of times because of that situation last year, so it wasn't hard to take what Jok has told him and understand it.

'That's the type of leader I love to have, just knowing I'm being held accountable for everything I'm doing on the court,' Bohannon said. 'Pete just added that extra dimension to my game, just knowing every single thing you do on the court is going to affect your team because you're the point guard. He's the key leader and key role model I've had.'

That doesn't mean it's easy to apply it.

Jok relaying how NBA players approach things certainly is valuable, but Bohannon said there were cases this preseason where he had trouble being sure what to do and when.

The sophomore said he had a two-hour-long meeting with assistant coach Kirk Speraw about it, trying to judge what a good performance would be. Ultimately it went back to something Jok said last year after games in which he didn't score like he averaged, and something Bohannon's older brothers told him several times: 'There might be some games where you might not score at all, but if we win it's not going to be that big of a deal,' Bohannon said.

It was a nice reminder, he added.

This year, there very likely will be games where Bohannon is denied the scoring opportunities he's enjoyed. Granted, he and Connor McCaffery playing at the same time should help limit the chances of it happening, but it does to everyone.

The lucky part, Bohannon said, is even if that's the case, he's got plenty of capable teammates.

'(I have to) keep having the same confidence I did last year, and try to use (being a marked man) as an advantage toward other teammates to try to get them open,' Bohannon said. 'It's going to be huge for them because you open up everyone's games, whether it's just not taking that first shot that might be open, keep penetrating (because) you might have a better shot later on in the possession — just using that as an advantage and it'll open up everyone's games.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com