Jepsen started as a junior alongside BJ Armstrong, Ed Horton, Roy Marble and Ray Thompson. If you hadn’t heard of Jepsen until he was a senior, you weren’t paying very close attention..
Riley Mulvey?
- Thread starter HawkNorth
- Start date
Jepsen definitely was not kept on the bench as much as Riley has been during his first 3 years.
His first 2 years with Iowa he played in 42 games, 160 minutes, scoring 50 points in those 2 years. As chaneccooms has said, he played in 33 games during his junior year, starting 30 games averaging 4.2 points a game, before his breakout season in 1989/90.
Not quite the same trajectory, but could end up with the same results.
I played against Jepsen at a fieldhouse pick up game he boxed me out one time and i hit the floor lol i gave up from there
Riley Mulvey would get rolled by prime Jepsen
Mulvey couldn’t hold Jepsen’s jockstrap…😎
I once sat down to watch a movie in a packed Englert theater only to have Les sit down right in front of me. I got “boxed out” by him too. 🤣
The worst thing that happened to Lea Jepson was Brad Lohaus. Everyone expected him to step in as an immediate replacement, but it was just too soon and he got branded as a late bloomer. Unfair label.
I doubt that he would really wanna
I wonder what it would have been like if Jepsen and Jaacks played together.
I feel the comparison is still valid.
A different era, and I'm confident Jepsen benefited from the folks he was starting with as a junior...not like anyone was expecting him to be a integral cog in that machine.
The players Mulvey would have been starting with were not of the same caliber, and he definitely would've been exposed to a higher degree this past year compared to Jepsen.
🤞 that Mulvey blooms this coming year, looks like we're going to need him for significant backup minutes if nothing else.
Since we haven't seen Mulvey play in over a year, and before that, it was very little, it is hard to know what to think about whether he can contribute. He definitely has length and can run for a big man, but he has shown next to nothing in the few game minutes he has played. I have asked a few times whether those with inside connections have heard anything about his play in practice. I assume that he isn't dominating anyone, or we would have heard something. On the other hand, if he clearly doesn't have major college talent, why wouldn't he have transferred to a lower level program? He clearly loves being a part of the team, which is a small positive.
I'd say a huge positive, maybe not enough to keep him around. I still don't really think we know what we have with him, time should tell
Another question that needs to be asked is why or what motive did Fran have to redshirt Riley this past year. If Riley as you assume isn't dominating anyone in practice why would Fran not have conversations with the young man to steer him to a college more suited to his less then wood be talent?
My only reason is Fran may have thought that Mulvey needed the three years to get stronger, maximize his physical attribute's and to improve his overall game. It's a stretch I know, but if it turns out that he becomes the player that some thought he would become when he came on campus he could be a great asset for this upcoming season backing up Owen or spot starting against teams that have 7 footers.
If I have a chance to see Brock Harding sometime this summer I hope to ask him about Riley, as I only live a half a mile from his home in Moline. Slim chance, but you never know. Otherwise we all have to wait until October and continue to wonder why Fran kept him around an extra year.
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Jepsen was a Raveling recruit I believe. Raveling got some highly rated recruits, obviously, but he also had a keen eye for underrated talent. Jepsen, Michael Reaves, Kent Hill all turned out to be solid players. Which is why Davis’s early teams had so much depth.
And then Davis messed it up by recruiting a bunch of kids who were D2 level talent. Just baffling.
Really good players did not like the style that Tom Davis used. Most wanted to play 30 minutes or more and with the hockey style substitutions that TD used, turned a lot of promising recruits to go elsewhere. He was fortunate to get the players that he got. He was never going to have the same success that he had with the Raveling recruits.
Tom Davis had some really bad luck with key players. Ray Thompson got ruled ineligible by President Rawlings on what would have been a team that could have gone far in the NCAAs (Roy, Ed & BJs senior year). Jess Settles, the best freshman I’ve ever seen at Iowa, injured his back and was never the same. Then of course the Chris Street tragedy.
But yeah, his overall depth of recruiting was shoddy.
Agreed on the bad luck. But he compounded the problem by putting himself in a position where he had to rely on guys who had no business playing in the Big Ten.
Not sure that we are disagreeing, except you have an optimism that is based on nothing except hope. I also hope Riley has developed into a player that can help, because we need a back up center that will allow Dembele to play 4.
I'm not sure that players not being held accountable off the court is bad luck. Settles and Street are a different matter.
Les, boxed me out the first day of a Quant II class. We were in Seashore Hall and he walked in 5 minutes late. The only open seat was in front of me. I saw nothing but his back for the rest of the class.
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Getting a 5th wasted year out of Mulvey is a genius move by Fran.
He's a mastermind.
He's a mastermind.
Doesn't Riley have two years of eligibility left? Since we seem to have several unfilled scholarship slots, I don't mind seeing if he has developed. If he hasn't, this definitely needs to be his last year at Iowa. Riley is a good teammate, and probably has helped give the young interior players someone to practice against. Maybe he will surprise us. I'm certainly not expecting it.
Jepson averaged 1.0, 1.3, then 4.2 his freshman through junior seasons. Well, maybe we heard of him but he blossomed as he matured into that 7 foot body. He averaged 14+ points his final year. All his stats improved. My point was big men often take more time to develope. I am cautious about Riley and am only hoping Fran keeps him around because he has some potential. Good luck Riley!!! Go Hawks.
After 3 years on campus…😂 time will tell??
The guy is not going to contribute anything meaningful in Iowa basketball games.
If you're not good enough to play at all in year 3 it's over.
The fact that people have to go back 40 years to find an example of it proves the point.
Every productive big man since then has contributed at a minimum by year two.
The ones that don't contribute by year two don't contribute in year 3 or 4 and are usually gone by now.
For some reason Mulvey is still here.
I'm not sure how "The fact that people have to go back 40 years to find an example of it proves the point." proves your point? It was not a prediction. It was an observation that Riley may surprise - or not. We'll see.
Nobody is saying this. What some think is that there is a reason he is still around and he may be serviceable. I get it, he may be just a practice player. Lord knows we've had our share of those.Some think & actually preach that Riley is the 2nd coming...
We don't know what to think with Mulvey. He has the length and some athleticism, but has shown nothing in the two years he played, then strangely redshirted when we need another center. It would be a huge bonus if he can now contribute for two years.
This. We were in dire need of a big THIS season who could add some rebounding and rim protection. Offense optional, and in year THREE Fran and Mulvey decide its in his best interest to redshirt? With all the high level AAU ball and high school, and now you have a guy who is 20-21 years old and three years in college and he can't bring anything to the table.
Then why is he still on the team? Riley definitely seems like a lot of contradictions. We will see.
He’s getting a full ride at a major institution. Maybe he likes that fact?
Maybe he’s got a woman in IC?
Maybe he knows he’s got no future in ball and he’s on a good academic path he’d rather not disrupt by going to a different (smaller) school?
The best part in all this thread is no matter what anyone says about Riley either positive or negative, whatever is said about him is just guesswork, not one person on this forum knows for sure whether Riley will finally show up and contribute to make Iowa a better team or continue to be a bench cheerleader.
It must be hell to those that can't understand that sometimes a player may take longer to mature and become the player their coach envisioned when he was recruited.
Fran redshirted him last year for a reason, we'll all find out this next season whether it was worth it or not.
For me, as an Iowa fan I'm hoping he's a revelation and helps Iowa become a better team instead of bitching that he's not worth a scholarship and must be a waste of space. God, there's a bunch of miserable people on this forum.
It must be hell to those that can't understand that sometimes a player may take longer to mature and become the player their coach envisioned when he was recruited.
Fran redshirted him last year for a reason, we'll all find out this next season whether it was worth it or not.
For me, as an Iowa fan I'm hoping he's a revelation and helps Iowa become a better team instead of bitching that he's not worth a scholarship and must be a waste of space. God, there's a bunch of miserable people on this forum.
He's so improved that Fran is still trying to recruit big men in the portal... that tells me enough right there.
And those who are touting Ryan's "athleticism" are just not good at evaluating athletes.
Honestly your statement is ludicrous, ridiculous, hell insane. Just because many here don't share your hopeful fantasy that out of the freakin blue he becomes a B1G level talent, in NO way makes anyone else "miserable people". The fact that you seem to think that, (at least you keep saying that", just makes people wonder what your issue is. Hell, I hope the kid becomes an All American, but I sure don't see it happening......
