Logic’s legacy defined by more than big numbers

IOWA CITY — The postseason honors began pouring in last week, even before they could be accurately considered 'postseason.'

All-Big Ten, as voted by the coaches and media. Academic all-American, by Capital One. Second-team all-American, by ESPN. A finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which goes to the nation's top point guard.

Samantha Logic has built a resume for another claim: Best Iowa women's basketball player. Ever.

There's credence to the claim.

'Best all-around? She might be. She's able to do everything well,' said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. 'She's a jack of all trades, and that merits a special place in history.'

Logic ranks 10th all-time at Iowa in career points (1,507), third in rebounds (896), first in assists (869) and second in steals (255).

Only one player in Division-I women's basketball history resides in the 1,400-800-800-200 club. It's Logic.

'She's kind of amazing,' said Melissa Dixon, Logic's teammate in AAU ball, then at Iowa. 'She makes everyone around her better.'

A former McDonald's all-American out of J.I. Case High School in Racine, Wis., Logic began building her foundation at Iowa immediately. She has played in 132 games, starting them all.

In that time, Iowa has amassed an impressive record (91-41) and has been a consistent upper-division team in the Big Ten and a regular in the NCAA tournament.

Now, Logic wants to lead the Hawkeyes where they haven't been in a while — the Sweet 16.

No. 15 Iowa (24-7) faces American (24-8) in a first-round NCAA game at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Win that, and a second game Sunday against Washington or Miami (Fla.), and the Hawkeyes will advance to regionals for the first time since 1996.

Logic was the nation's 10th-rated recruit out of the Class of 2011, and had offers from big-time programs. But Iowa was her frontrunner from the start.

'The first time I was here, something stuck out,' she said. 'Everywhere else, I instantly compared it to Iowa.

'Everywhere I went, I looked for something that didn't fit. I didn't find anything here.'

Since her arrival, Logic has done it all. She has scored when necessary. Her strength makes her a force on the boards. She became Iowa's career assists leader last season, and that record could last for decades.

'I wouldn't have gotten off half the shots I do without having such a great point guard,' Dixon said. 'I don't know if everybody truly realizes how much she does for us.'

Much of it is intangible. Leadership. Toughness.

'There's all the folklore,' Bluder said. 'She loses half a tooth, she's back in the game. She gets her stitches torn out (in her forehead), she gets restitched and come back in the game. After a tough fall, she's back up and at it. And believe me, she takes some tough falls.'

It's nothing Logic hadn't experienced before she came to Iowa. Her youth was a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, playing basketball and football against the boys in Racine, and battling with her father Steve and younger sister Brette (now a basketball player at St. Ambrose) at home.

'We wrestled with my dad a lot, me and Brette did,' Logic said. 'That's how we were raised, to be tough. If I got knocked down, it was like, 'You're fine, get up.''

Said Logic's mother, Julie: 'We didn't baby the girls, I'll tell you that. If somebody came in the house crying, I'd say, 'Is somebody bleeding?' They'd say no, I'd say, 'Then go back outside.''

The Hawkeyes, like most teams, are full of different personalities. Logic is a serious one.

'Everybody is so different. You would think we would all clash,' Logic said. 'Everyone is such a blast. The road trips, the locker room after wins ... I could write a book about all the dumb little things we do.'

Dixon said, 'Sam's really focused and driven, but she's always there laughing if something stupid happens. The best thing is, she's always telling you how great you are.'

As for Logic's legacy and her standing among Iowa's greats ...

'That's for people to debate,' she said. 'I don't think there's a right or wrong answer on that. I'm just here to play on this team, as a team, as long as I can.'