3-2-1: No Jok is a joke
Tom Kakert | Editor
It's a joke that Jok was left off the Wooden Award list
Peter Jok should have been on the mid-season John Wooden Award list.
Frankly, it’s either a huge oversight by the voters for the award or they are neglecting their duties as voters. Either way, no Jok is a joke.
I would have said that before he dropped 29 points, dished out 8 assists, and grabbed six rebounds in the Hawkeyes win over Purdue.
I’ll let his numbers do the talking.
Jok is averaging 22.9 points per game, 6.3 rebounds (which leads the team), and 2.5 assists. He’s making over 40% of his three’s and shooting over 90% from the foul line.
He leads the country among players in a power five conference, six among all D1 players.
There’s only a handful of players in the country with stats comparable to Jok. For example, Alec Peters, a forward from Valpo is averaging nearly 24 points and 11 rebounds per game. Tyler Hall from Montana State is averaging 24 points and nearly 6 rebounds per game. Marcus Keane from Central Michigan leads the country with 29 points per game and has averaged 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Of course, both of those players are doing in against less competitive competition.
The Iowa basketball sports information department had this little nugget in their recent game notes, Jok is one of six players in the last 20 years to average more than 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and shoot better than 40% from three point range.
He’s doing this against defense’s that are completely geared up to stop him. Let’s not forget that the rest of Iowa’s starting lineup is comprised of freshmen.
Yet, he’s not one of the 25 best players in the country, right?
I mean, there are four Big Ten players on the Wooden list and can anyone honestly tell me there are four better players in the conference this year? Caleb Swanigan, yes. Anyone else? No.
I’m not going to be critical of the selection of any of the 25 players who were on the Wooden list. I’m sure all of them are very good players in their own right. However, Jok should certainly be on this list. He’s certainly one of the 25 best players in the country this season and anyone who has watched the Hawkeyes play even one game this season would know this.
I’m sure the Hawkeyes record has something to do with the mid-season list, but this is an individual award and that shouldn’t be a factor. The good news is that Jok will still have a chance to make the Wooden Award list later this season. They have been open to adding players as they get closer to the final list, so perhaps the voters will wise up and get Jok back in the running for the award.
Led by Joe Wieskamp, Iowa's basketball future is bright.
THREE THINGS WE KNOW
SPEAKING OF JOK…HIS NUMBERS ARE AMAZING
Thanks to research from my friend the legendary Ancient Hawkeye, Jok is doing an all-out assault on the Iowa scoring records for a single season. This was the eighth time that Jok scored more than 25 points in a game this year. Adam Haluska did it nine times in his senior year. Andre Woolridge did it 11 times in his senior year. After that, you have to go back to the days of Fred Brown, John Johnson and Sam Williams to find players getting 25 points a game at least ten times in a season.
Here’s a fun little list to track Jok’s point totals for a single season with the all-time greats in Iowa history.
This is thru 18 games:
Fred Brown (1970-71) 511 points
John Johnson (1969-70) 481 points
Sam Williams (1968-69) 456 points
Peter Jok (2016-17) 413 points
NEW FACES ON THE ROAD
The Iowa football team is currently down three assistant coaches. That reality came with the retirement of Greg Davis and the dismissals of wide receiver coach Bobby Kennedy and running backs coach Chris White.
We are now back into an active recruiting period in college football, so it’s important to get as many bodies out on the road as possible. Iowa has dealt with this in the past, but never to this level. When Jim Reid left for Boston College, Kelvin Bell was allowed to go on the road. The process is pretty simple, as long as you are a member of the coaching staff at some level, you take the NCAA coaches recruiting test, pass it and you are officially allowed to go on the road. As Blair Sanderson has reported, Director of Recruiting Tyler Barnes is out on the road recruiting now. I would expect that Director of Player Personnel Scott Southmayd to also hit the road next week.
THE FUTURE OF IOWA BASKETBALL IS BRIGHT
For those who love the rankings and base their entire view of the future of a program on recruiting rankings, I’ve got good news for you. Iowa basketball is really in good shape now and into the future. We are seeing the talented young players on the Iowa roster right now, led by Tyler Cook, Jordan Bohannon, and Cordell Pemsl. This week, Rivals.com rolled out their updated rankings for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 classes. Connor McCaffery, who at this point will be walking on, is ranked #112. Luka Garza, the 6-foot-10 big man, is ranked #117. Both are four star prospects. They will be joined by Jack Nunge, a three star prospect who might have the most upside of the trio of 2017 prospects. Then in 2018, Iowa has a commitment from 6-foot-5 guard Joe Wieskamp, who Rivals ranks as the #43 regardless of position. In the Class of 2019, while he hasn’t officially committed, there’s no doubt that Patrick McCaffery will be a Hawkeye and the 6-foot-7 wing is now ranked by Rivals.com as the 60th best prospect in his class. Iowa will certainly add more prospects in the 2018 and 2019 classes, but the core is very strong for Fran McCaffery’s squad in the future.
When will Kirk Ferentz fill the open positions on his coaching staff?
TWO QUESTIONS
WHEN WILL KIRK FERENTZ FILL OUT THE REST OF HIS STAFF?
I think it’s fair to say that based on pervious instances, Kirk Ferentz probably would have preferred to keep his latest staffing moves to stay under wraps until after signing day. Usually he lets the coaches who were let go try and find a soft landing spot, but in the days of instant news, a secret like this is hard to keep.
Now, Ferentz has at least three and probably four hires that he will have to make to his coaching staff. Three of those will be made soon and I’ll get to that in a second. The fourth will be the addition of a 10th assistant that was approved by the coaches association this week. It is expected to be approved by the NCAA at their annual membership meeting in April.
Now, with the three other openings, there will be more urgency associated with filling them. Having said that, I would be a little surprised if Kirk Ferentz announced the hiring of anyone before signing day. My sense is Ferentz is focused on finishing up this recruiting cycle. He knew in order to do that, he needed to name an offensive coordinator and promoted Brian Ferentz to that role very quickly. Next up will be a quarterback coach, running back coach, and wide receiver coach. My best guess is sometime shortly after signing day we find out who will take over those positions.
CAN THE IOWA BASKETBALL TEAM MAKE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT?
This is going to be an uphill climb. As of Friday, the Hawkeyes chances certain took a step in the right direction. After beating Purdue, Iowa’s RPI jumped to 112th, which is better than the 131 that it was sitting it earlier on Thursday. Having said that, it’s still going to be a long road for Iowa to get on to the bubble.
TeamRankings.com had Iowa’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament at 10.4% today. That’s at least a chance. How does Iowa get there? Well, they currently sit at 11-7 and 3-2 in conference play. My feeling is to get into the Top 50 in the RPI and on the bubble, they are going to have to go 12-6 in the Big Ten. That means a 9-4 record the rest of the way.
The next step is to look at how possible that might be for the Hawkeyes to pull off. Can they go 9-4? Yes, but it’s a tough path. Iowa has six home games left. The two toughest games are against Indiana and Maryland (who comes to town on Thursday night). For the fun of this exercise, let’s day they go 6-0 the rest of the way at home. The Hawkeyes still need three road wins. They travel to Northwestern on Sunday and Illinois and Rutgers later in January. Those three might be best chances to pick up a road win. The last four road games are at Minnesota, Michigan State, Maryland, and Wisconsin. I think it’s still unlikely that Iowa makes the NCAA Tournament, but after beating Purdue, there is a flicker of hope.
ONE PREDICTION
IOWA WRESTLERS KNOCK OFF OKIE STATE
Last year the Hawkeyes and the Cowboys met on the mat at Kinnick Stadium. What a day that was for the sport of wrestling. Simply amazing day. This time the #1 Cowboys get to host the #3 Hawkeyes. On paper, this one is going to be super tight. Based on the rankings, it could be five wins each for Iowa and Oklahoma State. So, it could come down to bonus points. I think the Hawkeyes squeak out of Stillwater with a win and perhaps they move up to the #1 spot in the polls.
Tom Kakert | Editor
It's a joke that Jok was left off the Wooden Award list
Peter Jok should have been on the mid-season John Wooden Award list.
Frankly, it’s either a huge oversight by the voters for the award or they are neglecting their duties as voters. Either way, no Jok is a joke.
I would have said that before he dropped 29 points, dished out 8 assists, and grabbed six rebounds in the Hawkeyes win over Purdue.
I’ll let his numbers do the talking.
Jok is averaging 22.9 points per game, 6.3 rebounds (which leads the team), and 2.5 assists. He’s making over 40% of his three’s and shooting over 90% from the foul line.
He leads the country among players in a power five conference, six among all D1 players.
There’s only a handful of players in the country with stats comparable to Jok. For example, Alec Peters, a forward from Valpo is averaging nearly 24 points and 11 rebounds per game. Tyler Hall from Montana State is averaging 24 points and nearly 6 rebounds per game. Marcus Keane from Central Michigan leads the country with 29 points per game and has averaged 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Of course, both of those players are doing in against less competitive competition.
The Iowa basketball sports information department had this little nugget in their recent game notes, Jok is one of six players in the last 20 years to average more than 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and shoot better than 40% from three point range.
He’s doing this against defense’s that are completely geared up to stop him. Let’s not forget that the rest of Iowa’s starting lineup is comprised of freshmen.
Yet, he’s not one of the 25 best players in the country, right?
I mean, there are four Big Ten players on the Wooden list and can anyone honestly tell me there are four better players in the conference this year? Caleb Swanigan, yes. Anyone else? No.
I’m not going to be critical of the selection of any of the 25 players who were on the Wooden list. I’m sure all of them are very good players in their own right. However, Jok should certainly be on this list. He’s certainly one of the 25 best players in the country this season and anyone who has watched the Hawkeyes play even one game this season would know this.
I’m sure the Hawkeyes record has something to do with the mid-season list, but this is an individual award and that shouldn’t be a factor. The good news is that Jok will still have a chance to make the Wooden Award list later this season. They have been open to adding players as they get closer to the final list, so perhaps the voters will wise up and get Jok back in the running for the award.
Led by Joe Wieskamp, Iowa's basketball future is bright.
THREE THINGS WE KNOW
SPEAKING OF JOK…HIS NUMBERS ARE AMAZING
Thanks to research from my friend the legendary Ancient Hawkeye, Jok is doing an all-out assault on the Iowa scoring records for a single season. This was the eighth time that Jok scored more than 25 points in a game this year. Adam Haluska did it nine times in his senior year. Andre Woolridge did it 11 times in his senior year. After that, you have to go back to the days of Fred Brown, John Johnson and Sam Williams to find players getting 25 points a game at least ten times in a season.
Here’s a fun little list to track Jok’s point totals for a single season with the all-time greats in Iowa history.
This is thru 18 games:
Fred Brown (1970-71) 511 points
John Johnson (1969-70) 481 points
Sam Williams (1968-69) 456 points
Peter Jok (2016-17) 413 points
NEW FACES ON THE ROAD
The Iowa football team is currently down three assistant coaches. That reality came with the retirement of Greg Davis and the dismissals of wide receiver coach Bobby Kennedy and running backs coach Chris White.
We are now back into an active recruiting period in college football, so it’s important to get as many bodies out on the road as possible. Iowa has dealt with this in the past, but never to this level. When Jim Reid left for Boston College, Kelvin Bell was allowed to go on the road. The process is pretty simple, as long as you are a member of the coaching staff at some level, you take the NCAA coaches recruiting test, pass it and you are officially allowed to go on the road. As Blair Sanderson has reported, Director of Recruiting Tyler Barnes is out on the road recruiting now. I would expect that Director of Player Personnel Scott Southmayd to also hit the road next week.
THE FUTURE OF IOWA BASKETBALL IS BRIGHT
For those who love the rankings and base their entire view of the future of a program on recruiting rankings, I’ve got good news for you. Iowa basketball is really in good shape now and into the future. We are seeing the talented young players on the Iowa roster right now, led by Tyler Cook, Jordan Bohannon, and Cordell Pemsl. This week, Rivals.com rolled out their updated rankings for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 classes. Connor McCaffery, who at this point will be walking on, is ranked #112. Luka Garza, the 6-foot-10 big man, is ranked #117. Both are four star prospects. They will be joined by Jack Nunge, a three star prospect who might have the most upside of the trio of 2017 prospects. Then in 2018, Iowa has a commitment from 6-foot-5 guard Joe Wieskamp, who Rivals ranks as the #43 regardless of position. In the Class of 2019, while he hasn’t officially committed, there’s no doubt that Patrick McCaffery will be a Hawkeye and the 6-foot-7 wing is now ranked by Rivals.com as the 60th best prospect in his class. Iowa will certainly add more prospects in the 2018 and 2019 classes, but the core is very strong for Fran McCaffery’s squad in the future.
When will Kirk Ferentz fill the open positions on his coaching staff?
TWO QUESTIONS
WHEN WILL KIRK FERENTZ FILL OUT THE REST OF HIS STAFF?
I think it’s fair to say that based on pervious instances, Kirk Ferentz probably would have preferred to keep his latest staffing moves to stay under wraps until after signing day. Usually he lets the coaches who were let go try and find a soft landing spot, but in the days of instant news, a secret like this is hard to keep.
Now, Ferentz has at least three and probably four hires that he will have to make to his coaching staff. Three of those will be made soon and I’ll get to that in a second. The fourth will be the addition of a 10th assistant that was approved by the coaches association this week. It is expected to be approved by the NCAA at their annual membership meeting in April.
Now, with the three other openings, there will be more urgency associated with filling them. Having said that, I would be a little surprised if Kirk Ferentz announced the hiring of anyone before signing day. My sense is Ferentz is focused on finishing up this recruiting cycle. He knew in order to do that, he needed to name an offensive coordinator and promoted Brian Ferentz to that role very quickly. Next up will be a quarterback coach, running back coach, and wide receiver coach. My best guess is sometime shortly after signing day we find out who will take over those positions.
CAN THE IOWA BASKETBALL TEAM MAKE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT?
This is going to be an uphill climb. As of Friday, the Hawkeyes chances certain took a step in the right direction. After beating Purdue, Iowa’s RPI jumped to 112th, which is better than the 131 that it was sitting it earlier on Thursday. Having said that, it’s still going to be a long road for Iowa to get on to the bubble.
TeamRankings.com had Iowa’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament at 10.4% today. That’s at least a chance. How does Iowa get there? Well, they currently sit at 11-7 and 3-2 in conference play. My feeling is to get into the Top 50 in the RPI and on the bubble, they are going to have to go 12-6 in the Big Ten. That means a 9-4 record the rest of the way.
The next step is to look at how possible that might be for the Hawkeyes to pull off. Can they go 9-4? Yes, but it’s a tough path. Iowa has six home games left. The two toughest games are against Indiana and Maryland (who comes to town on Thursday night). For the fun of this exercise, let’s day they go 6-0 the rest of the way at home. The Hawkeyes still need three road wins. They travel to Northwestern on Sunday and Illinois and Rutgers later in January. Those three might be best chances to pick up a road win. The last four road games are at Minnesota, Michigan State, Maryland, and Wisconsin. I think it’s still unlikely that Iowa makes the NCAA Tournament, but after beating Purdue, there is a flicker of hope.
ONE PREDICTION
IOWA WRESTLERS KNOCK OFF OKIE STATE
Last year the Hawkeyes and the Cowboys met on the mat at Kinnick Stadium. What a day that was for the sport of wrestling. Simply amazing day. This time the #1 Cowboys get to host the #3 Hawkeyes. On paper, this one is going to be super tight. Based on the rankings, it could be five wins each for Iowa and Oklahoma State. So, it could come down to bonus points. I think the Hawkeyes squeak out of Stillwater with a win and perhaps they move up to the #1 spot in the polls.
