2022 Iowa Hawkeyes Season Preview

[BabaYaga]

Iowa City, IA – Iowa Hawkeye basketball is set to roll on Monday for the opening set of games and there is a lot of optimism in the air. Led by @Lukenukem712, the Hawkeyes have their sights set on a Big Ten title. This is a team that feels they can surprise some people this year. Below, we take a quick look at the season ahead for the Hawkeyes.

 

Projected Starters

G - Brian Lancaster - SR - B overall

F - Anibal Ruiz - SR - A overall

F - Carlos Barahona - SR - A overall

C - Brian Christofferson - JR - B overall

C - Ronald Adeyemi - SO - B overall

 

Key Bench Contributors

F - Dario Gonzalez - JR - B overall

C - Sam Lecluyse - JR - C overall

C - Shane Mcbroom - SO - C overall

F - Ryan Randall - FR - C overall

G - Won Sai - FR - D overall

 

The Hawkeyes have a pretty solid lineup but once they have to go to the bench the talent level falls off. The Hawkeyes will likely look to play big as their second-best guard is a D overall. Their forwards are the best duo in the Big Ten and they will look to ride them to victories. This is a senior-laden group that will look for the leadership of their upperclassmen.

 

Non-Conference Schedule

Week 1A: at Arkansas

Week 1B: Marquette

Week 2A: @ Arizona State

Week 2B: Nevada

Week 3A: @ Duke (ACC-B1G Challenge)

Week 3B: Iowa State

Week 4A: FIU

Week 4B: BYU

 

Iowa has a really good non-conference schedule for their roster construction. I don’t see any games on the schedule that I would mark down as a loss right now, but quite a few that could go either way. Their toughest opponent might just be their last game against BYU. It’s strange that most of these teams such as Arkansas, FIU, Iowa State, etc. all have a few good players but then no depth. We will see how Iowa gets through this portion of its schedule this year. Non-conference projection: Low 3-5, High 6-2.

 

Overall Thoughts

Iowa is going to be a bit of a question mark this season. They’ll be really solid on the inside but I fear that they will not be able to make enough shots from distance to hang in with the higher-scoring teams. They have three good shooters that are freshmen, but that is the only thing they can do. This team will look to grind out wins and I think they’ll be able to be fairly successful with it. Prediction: 18-10 (13-7 B1G)

Edited November 14, 2022 by BabaYaga

[Lukenukem712]

Ahh this is great, thanks for all the hard work and cool shit you guys put into this!