Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Will Keegan and Kris Murray return to the Iowa basketball team and will Fran McCaffery be active in the transfer portal?

Episode Date: March 22, 2022

What will the Iowa basketball team look like next year under Fran McCaffery? Will Keegan Murray, Kris Murray, and/or Connor McCaffery return plus are the Iowa Hawkeyes going to be dipping their toes into the transfer portal this offseason? We dive into all of that as we do an early preview of the 2022-2023 men's Iowa basketball roster including who could step up if Iowa were to lose Keegan Murray and who will step up in the absence of veteran point guard Jordan Bohannon.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero is reshaping the way the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill vs the lineups you choose. Sign-up today at StatHero.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Tuesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, excited to be back for another show today. And we're talking all about the men's basketball team and what this roster could look like in 2022-2023 season. There are several guys, Keegan Murray, Chris Murray, Connor McCaffrey, who have to make a decision, right?

Are they going to stay or are they going to go? Really, it boils down to Keegan and Connor. I just highly doubt Chris is really even making much of a decision at this point. But we're going to be talking about that and what this roster can look like, plus what are some of the lineup combinations we could see on next year's team. Before we get to that, though, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes.

And this episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by StatHero. StatHero is reshaping the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house-based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill versus lineups you choose. Sign up today at StatHero.com slash locked on. So let's get into it. Before we get to the basketball stuff, there was the Iowa Pro Day yesterday. As we get more information on how people tested,

we'll make sure to be breaking all that down right here. We also have a special guest coming on in the next week or so to talk more about the NFL draft and where these Iowa football players are projected to go. He's a recurring guest, so you'll definitely recognize him once he hopefully hops on. Actually, I probably get that lined up with him first to make sure he can even come on, but that is the plan, at least. That's the goal, at least, is to have him on to talk a little bit more about the NFL draft. Also, there is a lot of recruitment news that is going on right now. Several guys who could be committing in the next couple of days, either to Iowa or Iowa targets committing

elsewhere. We'll be talking about that as well. So let's get into it. This roster was built to kind of to go now, right? Jordan Bohannon came back to try to help lead this team far. Now, when you look at the kind of season that Keegan Murray just had, it's pretty easy to say Keegan Murray's gone. Jordan Bohannon is out of eligibility, finally. I don't say finally in a mean way. It is finally he has no other eligibility left to play. So when you look at this roster,

there's a lot of guys who could be returning next year. The only guy who absolutely cannot is Jordan Bohannon and Austin Ashe, I believe, as well. Connor McCaffrey has a decision to make. You might be wondering what kind of decision does he have to make. I'll explain that here in a second. Keegan has a decision to make, and I would argue that it's actually a decision, not just he's going pro. Some would say Chris Murray has a decision. I would say there's probably, he's probably not going pro.

I'd probably give it more 1090 at this point. You know, he's kind of in his brother's spot where his brother was last year at this time. Right. You know, a lot of potential, but hasn't, hasn't really shown entirely what he could do as the lead guy. So let's break it down. Connor McCaffrey. Some of you might be sitting there wondering, why does this matter?

Why does it matter that Connor McCaffrey could or could not return? Connor McCaffrey is the lifeblood of this team. And even prior to him figuring out his three-point shot, Connor McCaffrey has been an integral part of this team, especially on the offensive side of the basketball. When Iowa needs a guy to get the ball to other people, it is Connor McCaffrey. Connor McCaffrey does a great job on the court

of basically being a coach on the court, breaking down defenses, helping the guys in the position, finding the right pass. He's a phenomenal inbound passer. And defensively, he does a pretty good job as well. He can guard several different positions. Now you might be wondering, what decision does he have to make? the right pass. He's a phenomenal inbound passer and defensively he does a pretty good job as well. He can guard several different positions. Now you might be wondering what decision does he have to make? Well most you probably know Connor McCaffrey used to be a baseball player. He was projected to be a decent draft pick in the MLB draft. Unfortunately hip injuries, back injuries,

a lot of injuries have really derailed his baseball career. He is no longer listed on the baseball roster even. I think really the matter is, does Connor McCaffrey want to come back and play that role-player role, or does he want to get started on his future? And his future either, and more than likely, I guess, probably holds something in the coaching realm. I think Connor McCaffrey would be a phenomenal coach, but I do think he was just hitting his stride, right?

And so Fran McCaffrey talked about it. He doesn't know what Connor's going to do yet. Connor doesn't know what he's going to do yet. I think as Iowa fans, we should be more than excited to have Connor back if he does decide to come back, but that'll be a decision that we'll learn more about. Not a, oh my God, we're screwed loss, but definitely a very important figure on this team. From Conor's perspective, does he keep on a deal with the pain? And what is that worth versus the opportunity to

play with his brother one more year and play under his dad for another year? Now, Keegan Murray is an interesting one. Keegan Murray, by all accounts, everyone assumes is gone, right? I think that's safe to say. If he were to leave, no one would bat an eye because everyone expects him to be gone. But he made some really interesting comments in the post-game press conference. He alluded to the fact that they have a lot of work to do in the offseason to get better for next year. Now, I don't want to look too much into those comments, but then I saw his dad, Kenya Murray post, and say, Keegan's not making a decision based off of money.

It'll be based off his heart. That is a much different thing to look into than just his post-game comments. Because if you're looking at it and you say, what's the pros of going pro? It's the money, right pro? It's the money. It is absolutely the money. But if it's not about money,

maybe there's a chance he returns. Maybe Keegan wants to build his legacy at Iowa. Maybe Keegan wants to take Iowa further than they've gone in multiple decades. Maybe Keegan Murray wants to win a Big Ten Player of the Year, National Player of the Year, and win the Big Ten Conference outright in the regular season. Maybe he feels like he has unfinished business. And with NIL deals, there's an opportunity where maybe Keegan Murray

can get a bit more money through NIL. Not more than NBA money, but some money to account for that. Maybe he decides to actually stay. I would say it's probably more like 25-75, him staying versus him going, but it's definitely worth noting that both his dad and Keegan have made comments that have alluded to potentially staying at the University of Iowa. Now, the comment gets brought up about Chris Murray as well. Would Chris leave or go? I cannot imagine Chris is going to leave. He is on draft radars, right?

He's a clone of his brother. Him and his brother are very similar physiques. They have similar attributes, but different play styles and different skill sets. So attributes and skill sets are different, right? Attributes, I think of jumping, running, that kind of stuff. Skillutes, I think of jumping, running, that kind of stuff. Skill sets, I think of shooting, driving, that kind of stuff. I think Chris has a lot more to learn and to grow in this Iowa basketball offense. I think Chris has an opportunity.

If Keegan does decide to leave, Chris has an opportunity to step up and be the guy next year. Or take another step in this upcoming season with his brother at the helm as well. If Keegan, Chris, and Connor return, there is no reason why this team should not be a top 10 team next year. No reason at all. I know you're missing Jordan Bohannon and his shot, but I think what you lose with Jordan Bohannon, you gain the experience of having those players back.

Plus, you have Peyton Sanford, who has shown the willingness to step in and has no problem popping a three whenever he has an opportunity to. Another guy to watch out for, Phil Pabracha. I don't think he's leaving, but his work is bringing up. When I had my chat with Phil Pabracha before the season began,

he came on the show and I talked to him a little bit about what he wanted to do at Iowa. And he did say he wanted to stay at Iowa for two years if possible. That was his goal. I don't think anything has changed with that. I do think it's just worth bringing up the fact that he is obviously a little bit older. He does have an opportunity to probably play basketball in Europe as well. But I do think he will want another year in this Iowa offense. Coming up, we're going to talk a little bit about what are some of the potential lineups,

who could be stepping into that point guard spot, who could possibly be leaving, and also talk about a commit who has decided to decommit from the University of Missouri and why he might be on Iowa's radar and also talking some transfer talks. That's all coming up here in a few short moments. But first, I know March Madness is amazing. I love March Madness. But if you're like me, your bracket is absolutely busted. Thankfully, I've been hedging my bets this year with Stat Heroes NCAA Pick'Em Contest.

Stat Heroes NCAA single-game pick'ems pit the star players against each other in an amazing hybrid between fantasy and sports gambling. Take control back from those handicappers that always seem to have the advantage. Start focusing on the players you know best with a gameplay that doesn't rely on big spreads, long odds, or funky props. StatHero gives you the advantage, resulting in their gamers winning four times more often. Why? Because StatHero eliminates the mystery

about who or what you are going up against. In addition to their pick-em games, they also have dozens of lineups you can comb through to take on head-to-head. They simply post their set of players, and you pick your set of players that you choose and play against them. If that sounds fun, or if your bracket's busted

and you want to get in on the action, sign up for free right now at StatHero.com and use the promo code LOCKEDON for a 100% deposit match. That's stathero.com. Use the promo code LOCKEDON for a 100% deposit match. Stathero.com. Promo code LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions do apply.

All right, y'all. Thank you again for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. I appreciate each and every one of you listening to the show whenever you can, making it your first listen. And you can find us wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching on Locked On Hawkeyes. So let's get into it. We talked a little bit about the guys who potentially could leave.

Now let's talk about some lineup combinations. And really, it is going to be quite interesting to see what lineup they trot out. Jordan Bohannon has been in the starting lineup for years. Without Jordan Bohannon, who takes that starting point guard role? We saw them try to do the Joe Toussaint experiment at point guard with Jordan Bohannon at the shooting guard spot. It did not work out. They moved Jordan to the one.

They moved Tony P to the two. And that was a phenomenal lineup that really got Iowa kicking towards the end of the season. Tony Perkins is without a doubt going to be in that lineup. What I think could be interesting is that towards the end of the season, we saw Tony Perkins bringing the ball up quite a lot. Now, Tony Perkins, I would not say is a natural point guard, but he is good at distributing the ball, facilitating the offense, and he can break guys down off the dribble. Those are all things that do really well in March. It does really well to have a guy like that handling the basketball.

But Iowa does have kind of a log jam at that point guard spot, especially with four-star point guard DeSante Bowen coming in, which we'll talk about a little bit here in a second. So as it stands right now, this team, as long as no one leaves, we could see Joe T at the point with Tony P at the two, PMAC at the three. If Keegan returns, Keegan at the four or Chris or Chris or Phillip at the five. So again, a lot of, a lot of kind of variables here, or let's say we see Tony P at the 1. We go real big.

Chris at the 2. PMAC at the 3. Keegan at the 4. Phillip at the 5. Again, we don't know if Keegan's going to be there. Let's say Keegan isn't going to be there. In those lineups, it'd be Joe T, Tony P, PMAC, Chris, Phillip. Or Tony P, maybe Peyton Sanford, P-Mac, Chris, and Phillip.

You could also see a DeSante Bowen take that spot. There are just so many lineup combinations. It'll be really interesting to see what Iowa does here. And speaking of that point guard spot, I was really impressed with how Joe Toussaint played down the stretch coming off the bench. I liked Joe Toussaint coming off the bench. So that'll be really interesting as well. Does Fran want to bring him off the bench or does he want

him as a starter? He's had opportunities to be the starter. I have personally preferred him coming off the bench. His defensive energy is phenomenal. Again, Tony Perkins gives you an opportunity to play that one if you need him to as well. But the problem is we don't really have a true shooting guard. Josh Dix is recovering from a gruesome injury. I cannot imagine he'll be back for the start of that season. You have a lot of length or a lot of true point guards. What gives here? And who is actually going to be taking over those point guard minutes? Aaron Ulis got almost no playing time down the stretch. He basically fell out of favor in that rotation. I didn't see anything in particular that stood out to me about his play.

I said, wow, Aaron's doing terrible. He definitely needs to be bent. I didn't see anything like that. But it is worth noting that he did not get hardly any playing time down the stretch. A guy who was getting a lot of minutes early on, zero minutes against Richmond, three against Purdue, three against Indiana, a DNP against Rutgers. He did get 11 against Northwestern, 13 against Illinois, 10 against Michigan.

But he put up his 4 lowest minute totals of the entire season in his final 4 games after that game against Northwestern and the 3 games preceding that he had an 82 offensive rating against Northwestern with 2 turnovers in 11 minutes 1 of 3 from the field against Illinois a 78 offensiveovers in 11 minutes, one of three from the field.

Against Illinois, a 78 offensive rating in 13 minutes, one of two from the field, and one turnover and two personal fouls. And against Michigan, he had a zero offensive rating, O of one from the field, and one turnover. That's not great. That is not ideal. Now, one of the things that was mentioned earlier in the season is that Fran does a really good job of getting those guys minutes, but does that four-game stretch allude

to something? Are we seeing something that could boil over? I don't know. I thought Aaron Uless has played pretty well to this point, and it seems like Iowa might have been just trying to ride the hot hands, right? You need Jordan Bohannon in there because of his shooting. And it seems like Iowa might've been just trying to ride the hot hands, right? You need Jordan Bohannon in there because of his shooting. You need Tony Perkins in there because he was playing some of his best basketball. Maybe that was the case. And then the minutes were just getting dried up, but that'll be a really interesting situation to watch because we're going to see a log jam at that point guard position with DeSante Bowen joining the program. DeSante Bowen joining the program.

Now, one thing I mentioned earlier was that Aiden Shaw, or I'm already spoiling it now, but Aiden Shaw, a four-star top 100 guy, decommitted from Missouri after they fired their head coach. He was a guy who Iowa got in on late, but he was one of the teams that Iowa was considering. Did this run change his mind? We don't know yet we've not heard anything of the fact we haven't heard a single thing about Aiden Shaw at this point

the 6'7 6'8 190 pound a small forward would make a great addition for the Iowa Hawkeyes but again he has officially decommitted from Missouri there is an opportunity there and you better believe Iowa is probably going to be looking at trying to get back in the running for him, giving them another fantastic wing player with a long wingspan who can play several positions and guard at several positions. That'll be something interesting to watch as well. Now, one of the things I've heard is, should Iowa go get a transfer player? You know, I'm going to be honest. I might say something controversial here.

I do not believe they are going to actively go for a transfer portal player. I know that's the way to do things, but Fran McCaffrey is not that guy. So I don't think Iowa is going to be actively recruiting many people. They might go and try to get one big if they really don't feel well about Josh or Riley's development. But I would argue the fact they were willing to put josh and riley in against purdue says a lot more about their development than we realize now josh's offensive game definitely needs some work but he is a guy who can bang down low can give you a solid 10 to 12 minutes and is willing to be physical he also has talked about even you know personally about the struggles

he had dealing with COVID. I believe it was COVID, but he had the diagnosis. It's probably not safe to say. I shouldn't be making assumptions there, but he got the diagnosis that he may never be able to play basketball again. And so coming back from that, he has done a really good job. Riley should have been in high school, right? So how does Fran feel about those two bigs?

That is going to say a lot about whether or not he wants to go in the transfer portal and try to find a guy like he did last year with Phillip Abracha. Now I think Phillip Abracha is a pretty undersized five, but he did make do for most situations. Now, if it were me, I think Iowa definitely needs to get a shooting guard. It's going to be tough to get a shooting guard who's willing to come in and be a backup, but I think you definitely need a shooting guard or some combo guard who can play both the one and the two, kind of like we saw with Bakar Evelyn a couple of years ago. Iowa needs a bit more depth of a guy who can come in and play that two,

doesn't need to have the ball in his hands at all time, but can make and knock down jumpers at a consistent rate. Iowa has a ton of size in that 6'8 range, but not a lot of guys who can shoot the ball at that shooting guard spot outside of Tony Perkins. So I would personally like to see them go for a shooting guard maybe, or a combo guard, and then maybe a big, depending on how they feel about the development of Josh and Riley. on how they feel about the development of Josh and Riley. Now, depending on guys leaving, if we see a Keegan leave, if we see a Keegan and a Chris leave, if we see a Keegan, Chris, Connor, Aaron leave, right?

And again, these are all speculations. I don't know anything about whether these guys are going to leave. I would love for them all to stay, right? That's going to change though, how Iowa pursues this off season. that's going to change though how Iowa pursues this offseason that is without a doubt going to change where they go in the transfer portal if they go in the transfer portal and who they target in the transfer portal so as those things happen if they happen at all we'll make sure to be breaking that down right here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast coming up who can take the next step for Iowa with Jordan Bohannon gone with possibly

Keegan gone who is going to step up and be that guy we'll be talking about that here in a few short moments but first it is that time of year again we have college basketball tournaments going on we got the CBI we got the NIT we got March Madness with the NCAA tournament and you can bet on all that stuff at betonline.net from all the latest odds contests and player props betonline.net is the number one source for all of your sports betting needs and info. BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your sports scores, podcasts, and news this season. And it's not just basketball.

BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sporting, wagering, information needs, including live betting and your favorite Vegas casino games. So head over to their website today or use your mobile device and learn more about the trends in action today. BetOnline.net. It's where the game starts y'all so let's get into it we've talked a lot about the potential lineups we've talked about guys who could be leaving who could be filling that point guard spot now it's time to talk about who can take that next step and who's going to fill in for jordan bohanan let's start jordan Bohannon. When you think about Jordan, the biggest thing he brings is his three-point shooting ability. And I would argue it's not just his ability to shoot the three.

It's his willingness to shoot at any time. It's his ability to block out everything and just go for it. When he gets hot, he gets very hot. From that regard, it's definitely Peyton Sanford Peyton Sanford is the guy who is ready to replace him we saw a lot of the same kind of mantra from Jordan Bohannon we saw that in Peyton Sanford towards the end of the season we saw it in the Big Ten tournament as well ball handling duties we talked about that the point guard, I'm not as concerned with that, but we did see how the offense did function a lot better when Jordan Bohannon was the one controlling the basketball. Now, a lot of that has to do with Jordan Bohannon and him being hot, but again, that is important

to note. The bigger question though is if Keegan leaves like we are expecting him to, who can step up? I think it really comes down to three guys in this order. Patrick McCaffrey, Chris Murray, Tony Perkins. I think those three guys could be a formidable three-headed monster that the Big Ten is not going to be able to deal with. Now, a lot of people have interesting thoughts or perception of Patrick McCaffrey it kind of depends on who you talk about I love Patrick McCaffrey's game yes at times when he's going to the basket

he doesn't always seem like he knows exactly what the outcome is going to be at times he can dribble a little bit too much but Patrick McCaffrey's athleticism is phenomenal. He's gotten a lot better defensively. He's a willing rebounder, and he at least has been at least towards the end of that last season. And he's developed quite a nice shot as well.

On the season, he shot 33% from three. He got a lot better towards the end. We saw him do pretty darn well against Richmond. Again, rebounding, he has the potential. And when Iowa needed some guys, he was putting up five, six rebounds a game. The biggest question mark with Patrick McCaffreyrey though, is can he stay healthy? That has been an issue throughout his career. If he can stay healthy though, and he gets more touches, he can put up some pretty impressive numbers. Look at what he did

in the last five games of the season. Against Northwestern, 10 points, 2-2 shooting from the field, 1-4 from three, 3-5 from the free throw line. Against Rutgers, 10 points, 2-2 shooting from the field, 1-4 from three, 3-5 from the free throw line. Against Rutgers, struggled a little bit, but against Indiana, 16 points on 7-10 shooting. Against Richmond, 4-7 from three. He has the ability to put points up in a hurry. He has the ability to drive to the basket and defend four positions at any given time.

Patrick McCaffrey is one of my guys I think could be a big-time impact player next year. The other guy is Chris Murray. It's easy to look at Chris and say, why not? Keegan made that step. Could Chris make that step? And I absolutely believe Chris could also make that step next year. We saw Chris take over games at times when he needed to this past season. And if Keegan were to be gone, I would expect Chris to be able to step in

and handle that role pretty well. There's a reason why Chris is already on mock drafts for this upcoming NBA draft. He shot 39% from three this year, 55% from the field. He doesn't do as good of a job at the basket, but he is a very good shooter, can drive, a very willing defender. And he posted the fourth best offensive rating on the entire team, 119.6, good for 113th in the

nation. Again, if Keegan were to leave, Chris is the guy to step up and can take that spot as well. The third guy I want to talk about is Tony Perkins. Tony Perkins really came on strong towards the end of the season and became that guy that we've been needing at one of those guard spots. A guy who can break guys down off the dribble and can shoot the basketball. Defensively, he's a nightmare for opposing offensive players. He does such a good job of getting up in their face and making them pay whenever they try to go around him. And then on the offensive side of the basketball, he does a great job again of breaking guys down off the dribble finding open outlet passes and if need be hitting that outside shot he's the only guard

we have right now that can consistently get to the basket and finish. I say, and because Joe can get to the basket, but it's hit or miss defines depending on if he's out of control or not. We saw some spurts that from Aaron Ulus, but also a little bit out of control at times. Tony Perkins, the only consistent threat we have right now to do that. To me, it's one of those three guys stepping up to take over for Keegan Murray.

And obviously the loss of a Jordan Bohannon overall, again, Peyton Sanford can hit that shooting spot, but we're going to need a guy to be the guy for Iowa, and it's one of those three guys, in my opinion. That's my quick breakdown of the Iowa basketball team going into next season. We have a lot of recruiting talk to talk about on tomorrow's show. We'll be back as well tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that.

I know you want to make the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen, and I absolutely appreciate that. You should also make the Lockdown NFL Dyes podcast your first listen, and I absolutely appreciate that. You should also make the Lockdown NFL Draft podcast your second listen every single day. The Lockdown NFL Draft podcast is for all of you draft fanatics out there. Hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker, they bring the NFL Draft to life every single day with insight and analysis on college and football prospects and NFL front offices.

And it's free and available wherever you get your podcasts at. So be on the lookout for that every single day as well. Again, Hawkeye nation. I appreciate you tuning in. I appreciate your love and your listenership. Have a fantastic Tuesday. And as always,

let's go Hawks.