Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa PG Jordan Bohannon joins the show to discuss his recovery and what expectations he has for the Hawks this year

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

We're joined by Iowa Hawkeyes point guard Jordan Bohannon on today's episode. He walks us through how recovery is going, what led to him deciding surgery was necessary, his feelings on the NCAA Tournament, and who he thinks people are sleeping on from this Hawkeye's basketball team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes! Welcome to the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes.

We are here, like I said, every single day. I am one of your hosts, Andrew Wade, and I am joined here by my co-host, Zach Cohen. We are both of dearoldgold.com. We have a great episode coming at you today. We are going to be interviewing Iowa point guard Jordan Bohannon. So you're going to love listening to that interview. It's going to run a little long, so we're going to put some of it on tomorrow's episode as well. But for today's Monday morning episode, you're going to get all Jordan Bohannon. Before we jump into that, though, we have a few housekeeping items to take care of.

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All right, we are joined here by Iowa basketball team's point guard, Jordan Bohannon. Jordan, it's great to have you on the show. How are you doing today, man? I'm doing great. How are you guys doing? I think we're doing well. Zach, how are you doing? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Awesome, man. Well, hey, we appreciate you joining the show.

Obviously, taking the time out of your day to be here. But how is your recovery going? Yeah, it's been good. It's been, honestly, quite a grind these past almost three and a half months out now. So I've been doing a lot of rehab. Just actually just started jogging. I used the underwater treadmill yesterday. So I was a little more fun to do some rehab like that.

But a lot of it has just been growing stuff, like breaking up scar tissue and whatnot. Rough. What was the feeling like after surgery? Was it pretty painful or just kind of nothing at that point? Yeah, the first about two and a half weeks were pretty tough. I mean, I was laying in bed my trainer was awesome though he's Brad Floyd visiting me in my house and we'd try to do some

like simple movements I was surprised because the day after surgery they actually wanted me to get up and try to put a little bit of pressure on it so that was kind of tough i was on a lot of pain meds so it wasn't too bad probably made it a bit easier for you at least yeah definitely i know i know those uh those can get to you absolutely man well so what was the pain like last season then obviously it sounded like you were in a lot more pain than i think people realize and you had a fantastic junior season what was the pain like every single day kind of going through that then that led you to decide to do surgery yeah I mean um I mean there's a lot of outside stuff that people don't know about like I miss a tiny bit of practices just because some days it just wasn't feeling good and that was tough I always want to be on the floor but um Coach McCaffrey does a great job but he knows that

the big picture of me playing a game is a lot more important than trying to get me in practice for three hours a day. But there was a lot of pain dealing with throughout the season. I really didn't feel much my freshman or sophomore year. I knew if something wasn't right, but I didn't really say anything. It wasn't until the first – actually actually right before the first exhibition game, I missed because of my hip. I went down and practiced pretty hard after I went up

for a layup and fell straight on my hip. After that, I knew something wasn't right. We finally decided to see what was going on and found out what was going on. I wanted to wait after season to get it all figured out because I thought I could try to play through what I had.

Yeah, quick question for me. How do you think the hip injury and the soreness and things like that, how do you think that kind of hindered your ability later in the season and in the tournament? Yeah, I mean, once you get in the game, there's so much adrenaline going on, especially when you're in the NCAA game. All these people in the crowd, I mean, you don't really feel much in your body. And my trainer did a great job of getting me ready for every game.

But I knew it was there. I would make some movements. Like I knew I'd cross over at a certain angle that I could feel it roll over on my head socket. So there's just like simple stuff like that that was kind of really irritating me throughout the year and just kept progressing and progressing. And finally at the end of the year, I finally opted to get surgery. Makes sense. I can only imagine trying to have to go through the pain of a hip and try to

do some of the quick action movements you were doing game in and game out. Last question that I think we want to talk to you about the injury. We want to get into more, some of the more fun stuff. As far as the injury goes, at what point do you think you'll be able to know if you're going to be a go for the season or not? I think Iowa basketball fans everywhere are kind of collectively holding their breath to see if you're going to be playing this year or the following season.

I'm obviously glad to have you back for at least one more year regardless, but at what point do you think you'll know if it's a go or not? to have you back for at least one more year regardless but at what point do you think you'll know if it's a go or not um i'm in the the kind of a mindset for me and my trainer and my coaches have been uh try to get me ready for the first game and if i'm not ready for the first game then there's no need to try to push it push through it and come back way earlier than um we kind of hope to so um it's kind of we kind of knew it was going to be a slow progression getting me to a hundred percent. And they gave me a kind of a six to eight month timetable.

So I'm trying to figure out what would be healthy, obviously 100%. By January, I know that for sure, but it's just the extent on before that, when I can get back. Makes sense, man. And as far as, you know, let's kind of get to the NCAA tournament because you were talking a little bit about, you know, when you get into the adrenaline of that and the emotion of that game, it's a little bit easier to not feel as much. What was it like playing in your first NCAA tournament? It was surreal.

Just the fact that you have really four fan bases there at your game and those two other fan bases, they kind of choose who they want to cheer for at certain points in the game. So that kind of makes it an even more interesting environment. But, I mean, the fact we're playing on CBS, we're the 12 o'clock game. I think both days we played there, and we played against Cincinnati. We played against Tennessee. It was one of the top teams in the country the entire year. They had several players get drafted in the NBA.

I mean, just to look back on that and realize, I mean, we also – we were right there with breaking the comeback record in NCAA history. So, I mean, it was pretty cool to see. I mean, it was tough walking off the floor, losing that game against Tennessee. But knowing that what we were able to do to get back to that point was pretty special, really. I think it really showed the world how special the Iowa team was last year. Speaking of that tournament, so if that Cincinnati game,

I know it was kind of back and forth, and it took kind of to a bigger 10-point leads. When you guys are coming back in that Cincinnati game, can you kind of walk us through how it was like mentally in your head? Like when did it click like we're about to do this or, you know, we're about to make history and win a tournament game? Yeah, I mean, it was tough to start out the game. I think we were all really hesitant, and that was kind of my goal.

I know I haven't had experience in the NCAA tournament, but I've been around my brothers, I mean, going to the final four, being behind the bench, I know that, the cheerleaders. So, and having Nicholas Spare there on the team, too, he was kind of helping me as well. But trying to get everyone settled down, I think that was the main thing, calling it a halftime. And I realized I needed to kind of take over as a leader of the team

and get everyone back to the same page. And we did a fantastic job with that in the second half as we took the lead and never looked back. Hey, real quick, guys. I need to make sure our listeners know about a fantastic platform to find tickets to their next concert or sporting event. Vivid Seats is an online event ticket marketplace that not only helps you find seats to the next big event, but it also has a loyalty program so that you can continue to earn even when you shop.

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With those savings, you might be able to make your team's season opener after all. So what was, I mean, it sounds like that made sense kind of saw the progression during that Cincinnati game started off a little slow and then, you know, towards the end, you guys were really dominating that game. And the Tennessee game, a similar kind of situation started off pretty slow what was halftime like though what was that attitude like going into the game uh I think from an Iowa basketball fan perspective I honestly wasn't sure what to think I wasn't expecting that first half um that second half was one of the best second halves of basketball I've ever seen in my life so what was that that, you know, what was the mood and the mindset coming out of that, you know, halftime?

Yeah, I mean, honestly, Coach McCaffrey was pretty calm in the halftime, as surprising as that sounds, as we played in the first half. But a lot of it was up to us. I remember saying, I don't know the exact words of what I said, but I said, how do you guys want to go out? Do you guys want to go out like how we did in the first half? Or do you want to make a memory that will last us a lifetime along those lines and I know a lot of people other other people stepped up Tyler Cook had a phenomenal

first four minutes in the second half and um and also I mean they I don't know if you guys there's just little things like precise things um that Tennessee was doing I don't know if you guys remember their five man would run run down and put his hands up and try to set a moving screen on me or any – who was guarding the point guard. And I remember Fran saying before the game, they keep doing that shit, and I want you to push them back. And that's what I did on the first part of the second half. And that kind of set the tone for, honestly, the team

and realized that we're not backing down no matter what. Yeah, I was going to say, how pissed off did Jordan Bowen get you that game? Yeah, I think he was kind of pissed off. I'm not going to lie, but they're doing little shit like that. It was pissing me off, and I finally got to the breaking point. And my teammates know when I get the mindset in my head that you guys don't want to mess with me. It's kind of that killer mentality,

and I think that really came up during the season quite a bit. Walk us through a little bit of those, you know, the comebacks and the last-second shots and whatnot. When you are in that mindset, what is it like? Is everything kind of just, you know, nothing really matters and you're very tunnel-focused on I'm going to get this ball and I'm going to score? What is that like for you?

Yeah, I mean, it's funny because a lot of people ask that question, I mean, what just happened to your mindset late games? And, I mean, honestly, I a lot of people ask that question I mean what just happened to you mind your mindset late games and I mean honestly I think just think this game just slows down even more when it gets to pressure situation just the fact that I've been here before one and and two I've worked my entire life to get this point so I'm making shots that people think that I should be making but they're shots I've shot my entire life and when I'm in that position it all feels slow it all feels smooth entire life. And when I'm in that position, it all feels slow. It all feels smooth. And no matter what, I feel comfortable in that position.

And, I mean, ever since I was little, I mean, playing with my brothers in the backyard from going to high school, playing in college now, I mean, it's just gone to another level once I got to college. And, like I said, just the game slowing down really helps me in those positions. Yeah, and how did hanging out with your brothers help your development? I'm assuming you were able to pick their brains a lot,

take some of their tricks and whatnot as you were growing up. So what was that like having three older brothers that were great at basketball? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a huge advantage for me. When I got to college, I, like I said earlier, that I was able to be right behind the bench during the Final Four and my brother played Kentucky. Watching my brother play, Steph Curry, right behind the bench in Detroit.

Curry had to end up, I think he had like 40 or something. So, I mean, I've seen all these players, my brothers, that played against. I've been there in the locker room with my brothers before, firsthand experiencing all the environment that goes with college basketball. And I knew when I came to Iowa, I was a little hesitant at first, hoping I could break the starting lineup, as people know. But I realized I had a huge advantage over a lot of people coming in freshman class to even upperclassmen because I've experienced a lot of this.

And so when you were joining the Iowa basketball team, what was that recruiting process like? I mean, you had a couple offers coming out of high school, but what really sold you on Iowa? I mean, honestly, a lot of people don't know this, and I don't think I've opened up to a lot of people about this, other than the people that came in my recruiting class, like Ryan and Cordell.

But I really only had two offers from South Dakota State and Lehigh DePaul came in late but you and I and Drake actually pulled my scholarship after my senior year at AAU when I tore my MCL and they just went a different direction and that really that was really tough because I actually didn't see myself going to those other three schools and I always wanted to go to Iowa so I feel like I was making that progression to getting there by getting a couple more offers but after that happened I was really dejected and I just wanted to go to Iowa, so I feel like I was making that progression to getting there by getting a couple more offers. But after that happened, I was really dejected, and I just kept working. And honestly, it wasn't until that summer year after AAU season,

we played Iowa City West, and Coach McCaffrey was in the audience just watching us. It was just like an AAU high school scrimmage type thing, and I must have had 40 to 50 points. And then after that, I kind of kicked off the recruiting with Iowa and it was late and Coach McCaffrey called me August I don't remember the date but it was late August after Boston and he called me and told me I was offering a scholarship and I said I'll call you back in five minutes I'm gonna accept and tell my family first so.

So obviously you're pretty excited sorry you can go Zach I was going to say, so I know you've been in a lot of games, and, you know, this is going to be your fourth or whatever. Your fourth year is going to be coming up no matter what season it is. But what was your – what do you think is the biggest moment in your head, biggest game in your head, or, like, most memorable moment that you think you've had while at Iowa? I mean, sure, that's a lot of games. I mean, definitely the Tennessee game has to stay up there as top two, top three.

But the Wisconsin game, for sure, my freshman year, just the fact that I kind of had that chip on my shoulder coming into college that all these schools doubted me and being able to be here. And that was kind of my kind of break it out part. It was that kind of that segment in the year where I played at Maryland and we went to Wisconsin after that and knocked off both those teams away and kind of put ourselves back in NCAA conversation that year. So that was really cool to have my family be on the bench and my two brothers

that went to Wisconsin there and be able to see that and their reactions after I hit that last second shot. It was really cool. How did your older brother feel who played for Wisconsin? Was he a little salty or was he happy? No, he was happy. Obviously, they were a little more taken back that there's all these Wisconsin fans coming at them. I mean, I got off the bus after we landed in Iowa City after that game

that night and I saw all these things. The fans were tweeting it from Wisconsin at at my brothers. I'm like, you guys are crazy that you're thinking that family doesn't trump all of Montero. That should always be the situation. I'm not sure what it is. How do you feel about Wisconsin? Because I lived in Madison

for four years and I personally hate Wisconsin. What are your thoughts on the Badgers? It's definitely mixed. I've always said this to anyone I've asked. They've always been true to my heart just because my brothers played there, and they kind of even more opened my eyes about basketball and what I wanted to do when I was older.

Coach Ryan, I love Coach Ryan, being around him. Just stuff like that makes me feel good about Wisconsin, knowing that my brothers got to that point in their lives and helped them out to get where they're at now. But also realizing that schools like that overlook me in recruiting, so I've always had that chip on my shoulder to keep proving people wrong every time I step foot on the floor. What team do you hate more, Iowa State or Nebraska?

Oh, definitely Iowa State. Definitely Iowa State. I hate Nebraska too. What makes Iowa State. Definitely Iowa State. I hate Nebraska too. What makes Iowa State different? Explain to us. Walk us through what fuels your hate for Iowa State more than Nebraska. Yeah, I mean, it was different last year when we played them just because they had so many transfers.

So, I mean, it still felt like an in-state game. Rivalry still had that same feel. But there was so many transfers on our team that I just felt like it wasn't – actually, two years ago, my sophomore year I'm talking about, it was like that. And then last year, I mean, they had a lot more Iowa kids. So, at home, I mean, as you saw, that battle was kind of crazy. It was chippy as hell. Yeah, they tried to fight us after the game.

And Coach Brown was pulling me off by my shoulders to get out of their huddle. And it was just a crazy game. But that's what makes college basketball so special. And people can take it what it's worth. I mean, we got in a fight, whatever. But that's what makes it so cool. In that Iowa State game, you know, Cordell was back for, you know, a couple games last year. I want to say even just two.

But in the Iowa State game, his presence was known. And I felt like it seemed like from a fan, he was doing a really good job of trying to protect you guys, right? So if you got shoved or Connor got shoved or whoever may, you know, gotten shoved, he was always there immediately to kind of back you guys up. How important is that to you to have kind of that teammate who's there to, you know, be for you no matter what happens? Yeah, I mean, that's definitely someone you need to have on every team.

Kind of that chip guy that, I mean, he cares to be on the floor, but also he's going to stick up for the teammates no matter what. So, you know, when you step on the floor, no matter what happens, he's going to have you behind him and help set you 6'9". So you kind of feel really comfortable around him. The size definitely helps. And then as far as, you know, playing with those guys, right, you played with Tyler Cook and Nicholas Bayer and Isaiah Moss.

They're all gone now, right? So what does that mean for you not having those guys in that team? I'm assuming you've built a pretty good relationship, obviously, coming in with Cook. It sounds like you and, you know, Nicholas Barrett have a great relationship. And then Isaiah Moss was, I believe, a year ahead of you. So what is – what's it going to be like not playing with those guys again? It's going to be very weird just because, I mean, like you said,

I developed great relationships with those guys. And, I mean, I could already tell. I mean, I wasn't playing at all this summer. But just being around the team, being in the locker room, it's not the same. You're trying to build new relationships, new guys coming in. And, I mean, not having Tyler there is a huge miss. I mean, Nicholas, another huge miss. Isaiah gone.

Macy leaving. I mean, it's just a totally different team now. And I was kind of saying that to one of our teammates in the locker room. I was like, this feels like a totally different team. I mean, we have really no one – I mean, we have people coming back. It just feels so different having all these guys leave and new guys come in. But, I mean, you guys realize that's just college basketball nowadays, and that's just how it is.

With all those guys leaving and kind of being kind of by yourself in that aspect of like the teammates you played with and kind of the playmakers and the scores for the team do you kind of like feel a pressure on yourself whether you want to whether you realize or not like do you kind of feel like i have to take the ball i have to be the one to enforce these things and be the scorer yeah i mean for sure just because i mean especially when i just had the surgery it's killing me not to be on the floor right now seeing them practice and want to be out there just help it's one thing helping someone out when you're on the side of the sideline but it means even more to be on the floor and really showing them whether it was from Tucson this summer

someone else that really showing them exact way to how to play or exactly how to run this play or execute it so it's been tough and that's really been frustrating me mentally-wise just from my surgery because I really want to rush back and play and try to help the team as much as possible. But also I'm trying to be a little selfish for once. I'm trying to get my body right. So it's kind of in the pickle for me um how when exactly i want to get back here yeah speaking of being supportive uh how do you like mentally how do you stay with it how do you stay mentally tough and

being able to get through these situations besides going to a summit and playing fortnight like what do you do to stay mentally tough yeah uh i mean it helps being around i mean you're best friends and on the team so i mean from whether it's going out and kind of enjoying yourself relaxing for once downtown or i'm playing video games like you said it helps have that have that connection with those guys um but i mean it's honestly just um getting back to what really got me to Iowa. I think that's been helping me get me through this process of being hurt. Just, I mean, I visited a kid a couple weeks ago in the hospital,

and it kind of just opens my eyes all the time about how inspirational these kids are to everyone. And that helps me out because I know that things could be a lot worse. I mean, this is nothing compared to the realm of the real world. I mean, it's just basketball. It's just a game. And at the end of the day, we have so much impact on kids and the community at Nile City and the state as a whole.

So that kind of helps me realize that there's a way more to life than just trying to get back to playing, just getting back to your body right and trying to help the team as much as possible. Yeah. I saw that you were at the hospital with the kid. And I think that's really awesome that you guys can take the time to do some of that stuff.

Next question for you that I kind of have about the team this upcoming year, whether or not you're able to play, what are your thoughts on this team? I think to be honest, media is just real confused. They're not sure what to think about this Iowa basketball team you know personally there's a lot of talent on the team but there's been projections in the top 25 there's projections not even close in the top 25 I'm just curious from your perspective what do you feel like this team can bring to the table this season I think it definitely helps you have new guys coming in so it has kind of that new vibrant energy from a team you kind of saw that as we came in as freshman class from me Cordell,

Ryan, Tyler, Macy I mean we just kind of brought that new kind of a different mentality not really loosey-goosey but realizing that we're kind of just living in the moment I mean and you kind of see that from the freshmen coming in. They're just taking everything in and trying to listen as much as possible. So, I mean, I think any time you have those new guys coming in like that, it kind of helps the team's chemistry and building great relationships. But, I mean, there's definitely a lot of skill on this team, from Lee's camp to Tussauds coming in, to Patrick, Connor coming back.

I mean, there's all these guys that are going to help the team. I mean, Lucas has been playing really well in practice. So I think there's a lot of potential just like any year to have a great year. Yeah. Speaking of the new guys, can you touch on Bakari Evelyn and kind of what do you think he's bringing to the table and like the positives that, you know, is he reinvigorating the team? Like how is his attitude coming into this team that, you know, was a tight-knit group?

Yeah, I mean, it helps having a fifth-year guy come in because he has so much experience from other schools and playing and playing experience from different conferences. So I think anytime you have a guy like that, it'll help the team in general just because he has so many experiences, like I said, and he's a really smart kid on the floor. So it helps to have that as one of your combo guards, point guards, shooting guard to come in and kind of run the team when he gets on the floor,

and that's definitely someone we need. And kind of staying in line with the player questions, who's one of the guys that you feel like is about ready to, you know, break out this year that we're not even expecting, right? Is it a Joe Toussaint? Is it a Patrick McCaffrey, Bakari? You know, who is the guy who you think people are sleeping on right now? And you can't say yourself.

Definitely CJ. CJ has been – he put in a hell of a lot of work last year, and I know that it's tough for him to come in redshirt and watch everyone play. And he definitely really put his head down. And he got hurt early in the year. I think he broke a couple ribs. I think it was the first couple weeks of practice.

So he was struggling a little bit. But he got back to the right path and worked his butt off and gained a lot of muscle went to work in the weight room just consistently worked and I think all that work is going to pay off this upcoming year And that'll do it for our Monday morning episode again a big special shout out to Jordan

Bohannon for taking the time out of his day to have that conversation with us. We have more of that interview to come and we're going to be releasing that over the next couple days on the ending segment of each show. We're also going to be covering a lot of that interview to come and we're going to be releasing that over the next couple days on the ending segment of each show we're also going to be covering a lot of stuff related to the Iowa football team we're going to be doing a depth chart react you know reaction we're going to be looking at kind of what to expect coming into the Miami of Ohio game what does Iowa needed to do win what do we want to see them do in this game all that sort of stuff is going to be covered

on the next couple shows of this week if If you did like what you heard today, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at, whether that is Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Again, thank you all for tuning in on this episode of

the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation. Go Hawks!