Nov. 11, 2010
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Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in Hawk Talk Daily, the UI Athletics Department’s daily e-newsletter delivery free of charge each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide. To learn more about HTD, click HERE.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – They are smiling again in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Coaches, players, and fans. All with grins. Some wide. Some really wide. Perhaps the widest belongs to Eric May.
May is the University of Iowa’s extremely talented – and athletic – small forward…who doesn’t play small at all. In fact, as he demonstrated several times a year ago as a freshman and again Sunday in Iowa’s 111-66 exhibition game victory over Illinois-Springfield, May is sometimes “Jordan-esque.”
The kid has “hops.” Give him an open lane to the rim and you not only get quickness and speed, you get distance when he takes flight and you get height…lots of it. His dunk on the front end of a fast break 13 minutes into the Hawkeyes’ first public appearance of 2010-11 brought the crowd to its feet and extended Iowa’s lead to 40-23.
Game over. Let the smiling begin.
“It was a lot of fun. We started out with a lot of energy. The starters brought out a lot of energy and then the guys off the bench continued that,” smiled May, one of several Hawkeyes new UI coach Fran McCaffery believes will flourish in the up-tempo game that McCaffery wants on the floor.
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“There was a stretch of about four or five days in practice where he was struggling with turnovers and it’s great to get them out flying, but we don’t need them turning the ball over. He’s corrected that part of his game. He’s much more under control. He’s driving. And if he’s not shooting and he comes to a jump stop and that’s what you need to do. He was spectacular today, no question.”
Fran McCaffery on Eric May
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The kid has also worked hard on his shot during the off-season and it showed. His line on Sunday was a stunning 8 of 12 from the field, 1 of 2 from behind the arc, and a perfect 4 of 4 from the charity stripe. Sure, the Hawkeyes weren’t playing Michigan State or Purdue, but don’t sell the numbers short: May was strokin’ it with confidence and precision.
“The flow of the offense allowed me to get a lot of my points and a few of them came from out of bound plays,” said May. “It was us pushing it in transition and getting the ball moving in offense that really allowed me to get my jump shots and get to the basket.”
The native of Dubuque also had three assists and a team-high five steals.
“When you have a guy like Eric May, you want him to get out in transition and get some easy baskets. When he does, he’s going to shoot the ball better. He shot the ball well. He’s been shooting the ball extremely well,” McCaffery offered after guiding the Hawkeyes to their first 100-point-plus game in four years.
“There was a stretch of about four or five days in practice where he was struggling with turnovers and it’s great to get them out flying, but we don’t need them turning the ball over. He’s corrected that part of his game. He’s much more under control. He’s driving. And if he’s not shooting and he comes to a jump stop and that’s what you need to do. He was spectacular today, no question.”