Notebook: UNI basketball shutting out 2014-15 talk

CEDAR FALLS - It may sound like the old 'one game at a time” cliché, but the 2015-16 Northern Iowa men's basketball team is very much about putting 2014-15 behind them.

Yes, it was a magical season. Yes, it was a memorable season. Yes, it was unmatched by nearly any other season in program history.

But if one message rose above all others at UNI men's basketball Media Day on Tuesday, it was that this year's team wants to figure out how to have as much fun as possible as this version of itself and not one trying to emulate last year's version.

'The one thing I told them when we got together this summer is the same thing I told them last year and the same thing I'll tell them next year. ‘Let's work really hard to have the best year we possibly can,'” said Coach Ben Jacobson. 'What happened a year ago, what happens a year from now or what happened five years ago does not need to have any part in what we're trying to get done in our year coming up. I think that message helped us a lot last year.

'I think for a while that group last year was really tied into trying to be a little like that team in 2010. And I'm glad we got onto the message that we're going to be the best we can with the guys we've got in this room. Obviously that paid off for us last year.”

That task can and will be a difficult one.

Aside from the fact that 10 guys still on the team were part of last year's 31-4, Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion, NCAA Tournament-bound team, they're all also on Twitter and Facebook.

They all interact with fans who so deeply connected with that team. It's not going to be easy to shake.

'I wouldn't say it's going to be hard - we just won't think about it and not forget about it, but understand this is our team. And take it as a mindset that this is a new year and everything,” said senior Matt Bohannon. 'People are going to talk about it regardless. At the end of the day it's on you not to listen to it.

'Last year was incredible; we'll remember it forever. But at the end of the day the 31-4 record doesn't carry over. It's a 0-0 record now and it's something we have to take pride in and understand these 15 guys are the people we have to care about now and understand what happens from now on is this team's problem.”

For some, this process is going to be totally unique. Many have never entered a new season with the weight and expectations of a very successful previous season.

But for guys like Wyatt Lohaus and Jeremy Morgan, the concept isn't new. Both were on multiple state-title winning teams under Steve Bergmann at Iowa City West. Channeling all their focus into a new season is something they learned in high school, and it's something they've carried over to Northern Iowa.

Being able to continue that will, they said, allow them to focus completely on this season and make new memories without the old ones having too great an effect.

'Nothing we did last year is going to help us this year when it comes to on the court except for the experience we got. We know we have to push ourselves just as hard. Really, it pushed us to work harder and to know the work we have to do to get there,” Lohaus said. 'I think (the two coaches' approaches are) pretty similar. With Coach Bergmann, he really talked about the same things, that it's a new year and that you can't read your press clippings. I think Coach Jake brings the same message, that this team has its own identity and that what we did last year has no part in last year.

'This team only has one shot. We try to carry that over in everything we do.”

CARLSON, AUSTIN LEARN FROM ARRESTS

The summer wasn't an entirely positive one for everyone on the Panthers' roster. Klint Carlson and Aarias Austin were each arrested for DUI over the summer; Austin's coming in Ames and Carlson's in his hometown of Waverly.

Jacobson said both players have gone through the legal system and taken care of all they need to take care of, and both are 'in good standing with this team.” Carlson will serve a three-game suspension to start the regular season, which takes him out of games against Colorado State, Stephen F. Austin and North Carolina, all at home. Austin will not serve a suspension, with Jacobson citing the fact that Austin was not yet an official part of the team, nor on campus as a student when it happened.

'Both of those guys have done all that they need to,” Jacobson said. 'The legal process has run its course. They are through each of their own situations. I'm very proud of where those guys are at right now. They have done a very good job of taking care of their business coming out of those situations and doing the things they need to, both with our team and with the situation in terms of getting it taken care of.

'Both are doing very, very well.”

Neither shied away from the subject during Media Day, both saying they learned something from what they went through.

Austin especially said the arrest and its aftermath were an eye-opener.

'I learned a lot,” Austin said. 'I was getting ready to go to the JUCO All-American All-Star Game in Las Vegas, and it was all gone for me in a matter of seconds. I really learned to humble myself or situations will.

'I also learned who was really there for me at times like that. I learned a lot from that situation to use as motivation.”

Carlson echoed some of Austin's sentiments about what he learned from his arrest, but pointed more to what he learned that can apply to basketball.

'I can't wait to get back on the court and give it everything I've got,” Carlson said. 'Ever since (the arrest), I've just been trying to put myself in the best position possible on the team and on and off the court. I've been working on who I am as a person a lot, and I'm really liking where I'm sitting right now.”

INJURIES AND RED-SHIRTS

The Panthers are sitting in good shape health-wise headed into the 2015-16 season, but will take some precautions with one of its leaders for the first few weeks.

Newly-minted forward (formerly a guard) Jesperson will sit out the first 3-6 weeks of practice and possibly the exhibition game against Truman State with a foot injury. Both he and Jacobson attributed the injury to 'overuse” from workouts over the summer.

'It sucks. Especially from all the work that's been put in this summer, to put a timeout on things now is tough,” Jesperson said. 'But I'm accepting it now. There's nothing I can do to change it.

'It's going to hang me up for a couple weeks here. After 10 days of immobilizing it, we're going to start doing more of the underwater treadmill and stuff on the court to start getting my conditioning back.”

Elsewhere, guard Taylor Olson, who sat out all of last season with a foot injury, still is dealing with effects from that headed into this year. Jacobson said 'it seems to get a little better, then a little worse. Right now it's pretty good. But depending on how that is, he may be in and out of practice a little bit.”

In terms of red-shirts, Jacobson said it's on the table for each of his four true freshmen, Lincoln Conrey, Justin Dahl, Spencer Haldeman and Luke McDonnell. No decisions have been made yet, but should be set by the time the regular season starts.

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