Hawkeye Hot Topics

Who Should Play the Point Next Season?

Jake Kelly’s recent tear sparked a debate among many fans on Hawkeye message boards. In five games as Iowa’s point guard since filling in for the injured Jeff Peterson, Kelly has played in all but two minutes and averaged 20.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. His evolution has been nothing short of remarkable. But does his recent outburst mean he should remain the point guard even when a healthy Peterson returns next season?

I say yes and no. What’s wrong with having the two share the position? The problem with implementing Kelly as the full-time point guard is that it basically eliminates Peterson’s value. He doesn’t appear to have the skills to handle being a two-guard. Plain and simple, Peterson is a point guard.

So let Peterson run the point. Let him bring the ball up the floor. He’s proven to be an adequate ball-handler. However, Todd Lickliter must stress that the offense should work through Kelly. It doesn’t matter who’s actually the point guard. Just get the ball into No. 32’s hands. He’s the team’s best creator, the most difficult match up for the opposing team, and he can score points in bunches. And he can still do those things as Iowa’s two-guard, while occasionally playing the point.

What To Do With the Student Section

Lickliter said last week that he wants the students closer to the action, similar to what Michigan State does at the Breslin Center.

“I've been really impressed with the venues where students have been really close,” Lickliter said. “I think we've got a great student section right now. I've really been impressed. But some of them are pretty far away.

“I would like to see us down close and giving us that boost. You feel the energy.”

Amen to that. Putting the students closer to the action elevates a team’s home court advantage. It’s ridiculous for students to have to sit way up near the rafters, or right behind the basket for that matter.

Placing students all the way around the court like the Izzone seems impractical considering that only about 1,000 students have season tickets, but perhaps the students could be given one whole side of the court. Who wouldn’t support a measure that could only benefit the Hawkeye program?

As renovation of Carver gets underway soon, expect some change in the student section. You got to believe Gary Barta has heard Lickliter’s pleas loud and clear.

Hawkeye Recruits Headed Back to State Tournament

Both 2009 Iowa basketball recruits are going to the Class 3A state tournament again. Eric May scored 32 points, connecting on six treys in a 70-66 Dubuque Wahlert victory over Mount Vernon in their substate title game on Monday night.

6-foot-9 Brennan Cougill totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Sioux City Heelan to a 60-52 win over MOC-Floyd Valley Wednesday night. Cougill’s 11 rebounds pushed him over the 1,000 mark in his high school career.

It’s a nice way for the pair of future Hawks to go out. May and Cougill each dominated their respective competition this season. Both averaged a double-double this season.

Heelan (22-2) will play New Hampton (17-6) in the first-round of the state tournament at 3:30 p.m. on March 10. Wahlert (18-6) earned a date with Norwalk (22-2) March 10 at 8:15 p.m. All state tournament games take place at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Read More:

--"Return Flight" -- Telegraph Herald
--"No. 1 Heelan heads back to state" -- Sioux City Journal