What a couple of weeks for Iowa Basketball! First the Iowa women win a share of the B1G regular season, then win the B1G Tournament. Then the men won 4 games in 4 days to win their first B1G Tourney since 2006 and their 3rd overall.
For years I’ve always said that Ronnie Lester was the best player I ever saw in an Iowa uniform, but after watching Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Keegan Murray, I might have changed my mind. He was the MVP of the tournament and is playing his way into millions in the NBA.
As a 15 year old, I lived through Iowa’s magical run to the Final Four and was in the Fieldhouse the night the wrestlers and basketball team returned to Iowa City. There are eerie similarities between the 1980 and 2022 Hawkeyes:
The Final 4 in 1980 was in Indy. Iowa just won the B1G in Indy.
Ronnie Lester was a superstar. Keegan Murray is a superstar.
The 1980 Hawks were a 5 seed. The 2022 Hawks? A 5 seed.
Steve Waite from Iowa City made the game winner over Georgetown. Jordan Bohannon from Marion hit the shot to beat Indiana.
To this day whenever I hear “This is It” by Kenny Loggins, I think of the Final Four! In a one and done tourney, anything can happen, that’s why they call it “madness”! Iowa starts their journey Thursday afternoon vs. Richmond. The Iowa women will play at sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Friday afternoon against Illinois State. Go Hawks!
