Nov. 10, 2003
Purchase your Iowa men’s basketball online!
Coach Steve Alford’s Iowa Hawkeyes open their 2003-04 season with the first of two exhibition games, hosting the EA Sports Midwest All-Stars Tuesday, Nov. 11. Game time is 7:05 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500). Iowa’s second exhibition game will take place Sunday, Nov. 16 when the Hawkeyes host Athletes in Action at 2:05 p.m. Both of the exhibition games can be heard on the Hawkeye Radio Network, but neither will be televised.
ON THE AIR
Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Gary Dolphin handles the play-by-play with color commentator Bob Hansen.
IOWA HISTORY
Iowa has played 2,281 games since beginning basketball in 1902. Overall Iowa’s record is 1,359-922 (.596). That includes an 847-300 (.738) record in home games, a 512-622 (.451) record in games away from Iowa City, a 648-637 (.504) mark in Big Ten games and a 253-74 (.774) record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IOWA IN CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
January 5, 2003 marked the 20th anniversary of Iowa’s first basketball game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa has compiled a 253-74 (.774) record in the arena. Iowa is 122-61 (.667) in Big Ten games and 131-13 (.910) in non-Big Ten games. Iowa has drawn over 4.8 million fans for men’s basketball games since the arena opened in 1983. Iowa has posted a 45-19 home record under Coach Steve Alford, including a 27-4 mark in non-conference home games.
IOWA IN EXHIBITION GAMES
Iowa won a pair of exhibition games a year ago, defeating EA Sports 68-55 and Team Nike 79-57. In four seasons, Steve Alford’s Iowa teams have won seven of eight exhibition games, with the only loss being a 79-76 setback at the hands of the Harlem Globetrotters.
GOLD SHIRTS WON BLOWOUT
The Gold Shirts earned a 95-79 win in the annual Black and Gold Blowout, held Saturday, Nov. 1. The Gold squad built an early lead, led by a 46-41 margin at halftime and cruised to the win behind a balanced scoring attack. The shooting percentages and rebounding were nearly identical, but the Gold squad had 16 steals while forcing 21 turnovers and the Gold team held a 17-6 scoring advantage from the free throw line.
Sophomore Pierre Pierce led all scorers in the game with 31 points for the Gold team, while Brody Boyd added 22 for the winners. Greg Brunner scored 12 and Mike Henderson added 11. Brunner led the Gold team with nine rebounds, while Pierce added eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Sean Sonderleiter also had a solid game with nine points, seven rebounds and five steals.
The Black Shirts were led by Adam Haluska with 23 points. Haluska, a transfer from Iowa State, will sit out the 2003-04 season as a redshirt. Senior center Jared Reiner added 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Jeff Horner scored 13 points. Sophomore transfer Nick DeWitz led the Black Shirts with seven assists, while Horner and Jack Brownlee each added six and Horner and Haluska each had six rebounds.
BASKETBALL TICKETS AVAILABLE
Following is information on Iowa basketball tickets for the upcoming season. Iowa basketball tickets may be purchased in person at the athletic ticket office at the north entrance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, on-line at www.hawkeyesports.com, or by calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS.
Tickets for the two exhibition games, Nov. 11 and Nov. 16, are available for $13 Season tickets for all 16 regular season home games are available at a cost of $360 Holiday Break Package tickets are available for $76 and include games vs. Eastern Illinois, Purdue and Northwestern Single game tickets are available for all home games at a cost of $26 per ticket per game
IOWA COACH Steve Alford
Steve Alford (pronounced ALL-ford) is in his fifth season as the head coach at the University of Iowa and his 13th season as a college head coach. Alford holds a career record of 229-135 (.629), including a 73-58 (.557) record at Iowa, a 78-29 (.729) record in four seasons (1992-95) at Div. III Manchester College and a four-year record (1996-99) of 78-48 (.619) at Southwest Missouri State. He is 24-39 (.381) in Big Ten games at Iowa. Career win No. 200 for Alford came in 2002 in a 78-53 win at Iowa State. Alford is 8-5 in the NCAA Tournament (3-2 in Div. I and 5-3 in Div. III) and 2-3 in the NIT.
Alford led Iowa to the 2001 Big Ten Conference Tournament title and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his second season with the Hawkeyes. Iowa earned a return trip to the title game of the Big Ten Conference Tournament in 2002 and advanced to the NIT in post-season play in both 2002 and 2003. The Hawkeyes set a Big Ten Conference Tournament record with seven straight wins over two seasons (2001-2002) before a last-second loss in the first round of the 2003 tournament. Alford’s record in the event is 8-3 in his four seasons.
Alford led Southwest Missouri State to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1999 and in 1995 Manchester advanced to the NCAA championship game before suffering its first defeat of the season.
Alford is a 1987 graduate of Indiana, where he led the Hoosiers to the 1987 NCAA title. Alford was a member of the 1984 U. S. Olympic team that earned the Gold Medal and he was the 26th player selected in the NBA Draft following his senior season. Alford played four seasons in the NBA before beginning his coaching career.
At Indiana, Alford started 120 of 125 games in four seasons. He served as team captain in 1987 when the Hoosiers were 30-4. Steve concluded his college career as Indiana’s all-time scoring leader with 2,438 points and he holds the Indiana record for career steals with 178. He was a consensus first team All-American and the Big Ten MVP as a senior.
Alford is a member of the Manchester College M Association Hall of Fame and the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2001 he was named one of the “Top 50 Athletes” in the history of the state of Indiana and was selected as a member of the 15-man Indiana University all-Century team.
Alford’s Iowa teams have won seven of eight exhibition games over the past four seasons.
HALK TALK WITH Steve Alford
Fans of the University of Iowa basketball program may join Iowa Coach Steve Alford and radio announcer Gary Dolphin each week during the season for the “Hawk Talk with Steve Alford” radio call-in show. The show takes place each week at Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Caf? in Iowa City. The show airs from 7-8:30 p.m. on the following dates: Nov. 24; Dec. 1, 15 & 29; Jan. 5, 14, 19 & 26; Feb. 2, 9, 16 & 23; and Mar. 1, 8 & 15.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Electronic Arts is headquartered in Redwood City, CA, and has a number of teams playing exhibition games around the country. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for the Internet, personal computers and video game systems. Iowa last season scored a 68-55 exhibition win over EA Sports. For the second straight year, the EA Sports roster includes former Illinois player Lucas Johnson. Johnson is the only member of EA Sports that attended a Big Ten Conference school. Johnson, who had six points, and Mike Brownlee, who had nine points, three assists and four steals, are the only members of the EA Sports team that played here a year ago. A late addition to the EA Sports roster has been former Wisconsin-Milwaukee player Clay Tucker. Tucker had 10 points, six assists and two rebounds when Iowa defeated Wisconsin-Milwaukee 83-79 to open the 2000-01 season.
ATHLETES IN ACTION
Iowa’s second and final exhibition game will take place Sunday, Nov. 16 against Athletes in Action. Game time is 2:05 p.m. and the contest will not be televised. The Athletes in Action roster includes three players who competed against the Hawkeyes during their college careers. Joe Modderman lettered at Iowa State during the 1994-96 seasons, Joe Crispin played at Penn State from 1998-01 and Ryan Sears played against Iowa in 1998, 1999 and 2001 while at Creighton. Two current members of AIA played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena when Iowa defeated AIA 101-70 to start the 2000-01 season. Reed Rawlings led AIA with 25 points, while David Daniels scored two points.
ANOTHER STRONG SCHEDULE
As has been the case in recent years, the Iowa schedule is again very demanding. In non-conference action, Iowa will travel to Iowa State and Missouri, while playing neutral site games vs. Louisville (at Indianapolis, IN) and Texas Tech (Dallas, TX). Among Iowa’s non-conference opponents, North Carolina-Asheville, Louisville and Missouri competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, while Illinois-Chicago, Eastern Washington, Iowa State and Texas Tech participated in the NIT. In Big Ten play, Iowa plays Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan State just once, with Penn State and Wisconsin visiting Iowa City.
IOWA’S GAZETTE HAWKEYE CHALLENGE
The Gazette Hawkeye Challenge, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, features Illinois-Chicago meeting Northern Illinois in the opening game on Friday and Iowa hosting Eastern Washington in the second game.
Eastern Washington posted an 18-13 record a year ago and advanced to the NIT after falling in the championship game of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Eastern Washington, which is the pre-season favorite in the Big Sky this season, is led by Alvin Snow, who has earned first team all-conference honors in each of the past two seasons.
Northern Illinois won 17 games last season and is predicted to contend for the Mid-American Conference title this season. All-Conference performer Marcus Smallwood returns and is a leading candidate for Player of the Year honors in the MAC. With averages of 13.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, Smallwood was one of 20 players in the nation to average a double-double last season.
The Huskies are coached by former Illinois assistant Rob Judson. Illinois-Chicago is picked to win the Horizon League title this season, returning five starters from the team that won 21 games and advanced to the NIT last season. Guard Martell Bailey led the nation in assists (8.1) last season and Cedric Banks earned all-conference honors after averaging 19 points per game. Both are expected to earn all-conference honors this season. The Flames are coached by former Illini assistant Jimmy Collins and were listed among teams receiving votes in the initial pre-season rankings.
IOWA ON THE TUBE
Every Iowa game throughout the 2003-04 season is slated for television coverage. Iowa’s non-conference game vs. Texas Tech is slated for national cable television on ESPN, as are other games during the Big Ten Conference schedule.
Iowa games not selected for national coverage will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus, while several conference games will be carried throughout the Big Ten Conference viewing area as part of the Big Ten regional network agreement with ESPN Plus.
THE HAWKEYE ROSTER
The Iowa roster includes eight lettermen, five seniors and four returning starters. Four of the seniors, Brody Boyd, Jared Reiner, Sean Sonderleiter and Glen Worley made up the first recruiting class for Coach Steve Alford. The roster includes eight Iowans, plus two players from Illinois, and one from Arizona, Indiana, South Dakota and Texas. In addition to the five seniors, there are five sophomores, two freshmen and one junior. Transfer Adam Haluska, who will redshirt during the 2003-04 season, will have three seasons of eligibility beginning in 2004-05.
ALFORD’S FIRST CLASS
Four current Iowa seniors, Brody Boyd, Jared Reiner, Sean Sonderleiter and Glen Worley, made up Coach Steve Alford’s first recruiting class at Iowa. The four players have seen increased playing time throughout their career and will be key players during the upcoming season. Iowa won the 2001 Big Ten Tournament when this group were freshmen and returned to the tournament title game the following season. Iowa has been a post-season team in each of the past three seasons.
Worley, with 857 career points, could become the newest member of Iowa’s 1,000-point Club, while Reiner led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding a year ago. Worley has seen action in all 101 Iowa games over the past three seasons, while Boyd has played in 99, Reiner 96 and Sonderleiter 92.
As a group, the four seniors have scored 2,338 points and totaled 1,243 rebounds in 101 games over the past three seasons, averages of 23.1 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
IOWA NOTES
With 73 wins at Iowa, Coach Steve Alford now ranks seventh among Iowa’s head basketball coaches in Iowa wins. Sam Alford, Iowa’s director of basketball operations, has been involved in coaching over 1,000 basketball games during his career. Sam has coached 24 games at the junior high level, 737 games at the high school level and 257 games at the college level. He compiled a record of 452-245 in 29 seasons as a head coach at the high school level, including a 300-188 mark in 20 seasons at New Castle Chrysler High School. He served as an Iowa assistant coach for two seasons before moving to his current position on the Iowa basketball staff.
Twelve of Iowa’s 14 losses a year ago came at the hands of teams that advanced to post-season play. Of the teams that defeated Iowa, only Florida State and Michigan did not advance to the post-season. Both of those losses were on the road and Michigan would have been in post-season play if not ineligible due to NCAA violations.
Iowa has opened Big Ten action with a win in each of the last seven seasons. Iowa’s last loss to open Big Ten Conference play came at Purdue in 1996, but the Boilermakers were later forced to forfeit that win.
Iowa has also been successful lately in its initial home Big Ten game of the season, winning 11 straight. Iowa’s last loss in its first home conference game of the season was an 80-77 defeat at the hands of Michigan in 1992.