Winning concerns Iowa’s seniors, not legacy

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Three of Iowa's seniors signed their letters of intent just months after the Hawkeyes finished 11-20 in Fran McCaffery's first season as head coach. A fourth transferred in after an 18-17 season.

In their four years on the court, those seniors have won 88 games — third most for a class in program history. They own three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances as well as a berth in the NIT finals as freshmen.

They're accomplished. They're successful. They helped turn around the program. Now, they have a chance to define their legacy.

Seventh-seeded Iowa (21-10) plays No. 10 seed Temple (21-11) in an NCAA tournament first-round game Friday at the Barclays Center. The winner faces the Villanova/UNC-Asheville victor on Sunday.

Those four seniors start for Iowa, as they have every game this season. Collectively, they have 384 career starts and senior Adam Woodbury owns the record with 135. Their next one is their most important one. It also could be their last.

'The major objective is to survive the weekend, survive and advance,' senior guard Anthony Clemmons said. 'I think that's everybody's approach.'

No. 24 Iowa has experienced highs and lows this year, ranging from sweeps against NCAA tournament teams Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue to losing last week in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois (15-19). The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 3 nationally in early February, then lost six of their final eight games. They had a chance to win the Big Ten title entering the regular season's final week, then dropped two games by a combined seven points.

But superlatives are lost amid the ups and downs. The Hawkeyes won 12 Big Ten games in consecutive seasons for just the third time in school history and first time since 1987-88. Second-team All-American Jarrod Uthoff became Iowa's third first-team all-Big Ten player in three straight years, something the Hawkeyes hadn't done since 1946-48. Senior guard Mike Gesell owns the single-season record for assists with 194.

The Hawkeyes won an NCAA tournament game last year to end a 14-year streak. If this team improves upon that, it secures a lasting impression among fans. But that's not their motivation.

'I don't really care about my legacy; I want to win,' Woodbury said. 'No matter what happens, I want to win. Legacy or not, I'm trying to help my program win.'

'I think every senior that is fortunate enough to play in this tournament feels the same way; they want to go out with a successful run, and that's obviously the plan,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

The motivation, as both Woodbury and Clemmons said, is simple: win and advance. The Hawkeyes haven't earned a Sweet Sixteen berth in 16 years, their longest streak in school history. But that history doesn't matter to the seniors and neither does their legacy. It's all about the moment and not taking it for granted.

'We've all experienced losing our last game of the year, and I think that's the biggest motivation for us,' Uthoff said. 'We haven't won this tournament. We haven't won the Big Ten Tournament. I think you learn from that that you lose, you're done, and I think that's the biggest lesson we've learned.'

'We're not done,' Woodbury said. 'We're excited to continue to play and continue to build on this program's success over our careers. We're happy with where we are right now and our opportunity to play again and compete.'

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