Hawkeyes Ranked 5th in Preseason AP Poll

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Associated Press released its men’s basketball preseason poll, which includes the University of Iowa at No. 5 nationally.

The No. 5 ranking is Iowa’s highest preseason position in 65 years; the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 4 in the 1955-56 preseason poll. This marks the eighth time in program history that Iowa is ranked in the AP Preseason Top 10: No. 4 in 1954-55, No. 4 in 1955-56, No. 9 in 1981-82, No. 7 in 1983-84, No. 7 in 1988-89, No. 8 in 1995-96, and No. 9 in 2001-02.

Iowa, who last started a season ranked in the AP Poll 15 seasons ago (No. 20 in 2005-06), finished 2019-20 ranked 25th.

The Hawkeyes return seven players with starting experience, including National Player of the Year and All-American Luka Garza. Also returning are upperclassmen all-conference honorees Jordan Bohannon and Joe Wieskamp, and Connor McCaffery, who led all Division I players in assist-to-turnover ratio a year ago. Other Hawkeyes with starting experience include CJ Fredrick, who was an All-Big Ten Freshman selection last year, Joe Tousssaint, and Jack Nunge.