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What Was the Worst Day to be an Iowa B-ball Fan?

Feb 28, 2019
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I'm still relatively young, I don't remember much before the Alford days. I can say definitively that yesterday was one of the single worst day of my life to be an iowa basketball fan. The Iowa legacy choosing an in-state rival, having to watch that gremlin Randy Peterson run up to him after the announcement with a huge grin on his face, XF making public comments intentionally or unintentionally roasting the program, then we get absolutely railroaded by DePaul at home. It was both embarrassing and destroyed all hope I had in the current and future prospects of this program. The day was fraught with symbolism of a dying program.

Legitimate question for the older fans out there, have there been worse days to be a hawk basketball fan?
  • I know the day Chris Street died had to have been unimaginable for reasons bigger than basketball. I won't even compare yesterday to that.
  • The loss to Northwestern State in the tourney is also a nominee. That image is seared into my brain for life.
 
January 19th, 1993 takes the cake for me.

A few other nominees:
  • Blowing a 19 point lead against UNLV in the 1987 Regional Final
  • Northwestern State
  • Losing to NC state in double OT, 1989 NCAA Tournament. Why? It was the end of the BJ, Roy, Ed era. Loved those guys. Recruiting basically has never been the same since.
At least those games were at the end of good seasons, though. Yesterday was possibly the most demoralizing day I can recall, for the reasons you stated.
 
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Lickliter's last season they were 0-2 with both losses coming at home, to supposedly cupcake teams. I hate Todd (Tim) Lickliter.
 
I'm still relatively young, I don't remember much before the Alford days. I can say definitively that yesterday was one of the single worst day of my life to be an iowa basketball fan. The Iowa legacy choosing an in-state rival, having to watch that gremlin Randy Peterson run up to him after the announcement with a huge grin on his face, XF making public comments intentionally or unintentionally roasting the program, then we get absolutely railroaded by DePaul at home. It was both embarrassing and destroyed all hope I had in the current and future prospects of this program. The day was fraught with symbolism of a dying program.

Legitimate question for the older fans out there, have there been worse days to be a hawk basketball fan?
  • I know the day Chris Street died had to have been unimaginable for reasons bigger than basketball. I won't even compare yesterday to that.
  • The loss to Northwestern State in the tourney is also a nominee. That image is seared into my brain for life.
I like your 'gremlin' tag for Register Randy. He's a reporter in the same sense that a woodpecker is a carpenter. As far as lows, I'd vote for Pembrook Burrows III's tip-in for Jacksonville in the 1970 Regional.
 
My very first ever basketball watching experience was watching Roy, BJ, Ed and the guys at like 7 or 8 years old... I thought that was what Hawkeye basketball was and will always be from a talent and competitive standpoint, I was hooked for life! Then i saw Andre Dawson, Ryne Sanberg, Shawn Dunston & Jerome Walton and Rick Sutcliffe bout the same time, then Barry Sanders.. well you get the picture if you grew around my time and choose those teams to love, it’s been rough to say the least.. Now even though DePaul looks to be a very good basketball team with good speed and height, for them to make Iowa look that slow and bad is very disappointing.. So as a Iowa recruit you look at a game like that and see the Iowa product do you want to get involved?? Most recently the big time instate recruits say resoundingly, NO.. I’d be interested to hear their real heart of heart reasons for the vast majority of them as to why they don’t want to come to Iowa.. but yeah, pretty disappointing day all the way around for me and Iowa hoops..
 
January 19th, 1993 takes the cake for me.

A few other nominees:
  • Blowing a 19 point lead against UNLV in the 1987 Regional Final
  • Northwestern State
  • Losing to NCST state in double OT, 1989 NCAA Tournament. Why? It was the end of the BJ, Roy, Ed era. Loved those guys. Recruiting basically has never been the same since.
At least those games were at the end of good seasons, though. Yesterday was possibly the most demoralizing day I can recall, for the reasons you stated.
This one for me.

Blowing a 19 point lead against UNLV in the 1987 Regional Final
 
Too many bad days to count. I'd much rather remember the good times, but, there haven't been many of those for a while now.

Bottom line, it's just pretty tough for Iowa fans right now.
 
Obviously not including Street's death but yesterday is up there with the NW State loss and the week or so time period back in Lickliters last year where we got embarrassed in back to back games against Minny and UW. You just knew it was over at that point.
 
Most didn't know it at the time and probably wouldn't make the top 5 for many fans, but the firing of Tom Davis has put an unbreakable curse on this program like no one could have imagined.
 
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My very, very worst day as a Hawkeye hoops fan was the day we lost to Jacksonville in the NCAA's on a tip in by 7 footer Pembrook Burroughs the III. We were the best team in America at that point and there isn't ANY doubt in my mind we win the 1970 National Championship if we survive that game.
 
The day that Lute Olson announced he was leaving
the University of Iowa for the University of Arizona.

Lute could recruit, coach, and gave class to the
position of Iowa Head Coach of basketball. His
ability to create team chemistry and win games
was no accident. He loved his players and his
players loved him.
 
Too many bad days to count. I'd much rather remember the good times, but, there haven't been many of those for a while now.

Bottom line, it's just pretty tough for Iowa fans right now.
you do realize Iowa sports (mens, womens hoops and football) we were one of like three programs in the country last season to have both programs in hoops advance in the NCAA tourney and win a bowl game. God I tell you we have a tough fan base. I mean what is it that you want? Could happen again this year. Yes yesterday was a tough day and the weekend overall but come on. Hyperbole.
 
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My very, very worst day as a Hawkeye hoops fan was the day we lost to Jacksonville in the NCAA's on a tip in by 7 footer Pembrook Burroughs the III. We were the best team in America at that point and there isn't ANY doubt in my mind we win the 1970 National Championship if we survive that game.
It's Burrows. He was 11 for 12 from the field. I believe Ralph Miller said that if Burrows played for xx years he would never go 11 for 12 again. I seem to recall that the tip-in came on a missed 25-footer, maybe by Rex Morgan. Instead of caroming like you would expect of a 25-footer, the ball died at the rim, right in front of Burrows. Jacksonville went on to lose to UCLA for the championship. Burrows went on to be a Florida state trooper. Miller was the best Iowa coach in my memory. He could have solved UCLA.
 
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It's Burrows. He was 11 for 12 from the field. I believe Ralph Miller said that if Burrows played for xx years he would never go 11 for 12 again. I seem to recall that the tip-in came on a missed 25-footer, maybe by Rex Morgan. Instead of caroming like you would expect of a 25-footer, the ball died at the rim, right in front of Burrows. Jacksonville went on to lose to UCLA for the championship. Burrows went on to be a Florida state trooper. Miller was the best Iowa coach in my memory. He could have solved UCLA.
Haha...I have misspelled his name for all these years. Your memory of the last shot is accurate. It may have been Rex Morgan or it may have been Vaughan Wedeking? I can't recall.
 
I’ll stick to on the court heartbreak and there has been plenty, but I have never been as dismayed as I was when Jon Lickliter played significant minutes. He might be a fantastic human being, but the fact that he was playing in the B1G let me know how far we had fallen as a program. He wouldn’t have started on my Rec league team and yet there he was running the point at Iowa. Makes me need a drink just thinking about it.
 
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Most didn't know it at the time and probably wouldn't make the top 5 for many fans, but the firing of Tom Davis has put an unbreakable curse on this program like no one could have imagined.
You're right. Not in top five. Barely .500 in Big Ten after departure of Raveling's recruits.
 
I really hate to defend Fran here, he deserves no defense at the moment, but didn't Lute run a referee down in the tunnel similar to Fran's outburst?


Yes , lute ran after Jim Bain at Purdue. Bain called a phantom foul at the end of the game. Seems Jim Bain had a plane to catch to get to another game he was reffing. Cost Iowa a big ten title. Ncaa changed the rules because of that , stating a ref could not ref 2 games in one day.
 
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It's Burrows. He was 11 for 12 from the field. I believe Ralph Miller said that if Burrows played for xx years he would never go 11 for 12 again. I seem to recall that the tip-in came on a missed 25-footer, maybe by Rex Morgan. Instead of caroming like you would expect of a 25-footer, the ball died at the rim, right in front of Burrows. Jacksonville went on to lose to UCLA for the championship. Burrows went on to be a Florida state trooper. Miller was the best Iowa coach in my memory. He could have solved UCLA.
I would agree with the above as one, Lute Olson leaving, and UNLV loss in 1987.
But the very worst by far was the day Chris Street lost his life.
 
My very, very worst day as a Hawkeye hoops fan was the day we lost to Jacksonville in the NCAA's on a tip in by 7 footer Pembrook Burroughs the III. We were the best team in America at that point and there isn't ANY doubt in my mind we win the 1970 National Championship if we survive that game.
I’m an Illinois fan but I enjoyed that Iowa team: Fred Brown, Chad Calabria, Stick Vidnovic, John Johnson. Fun team.

Similar to 1989 for me. Illinois had beaten Michigan by 12 and 16 in the regular season. Lose on a tipin at the buzzer to Michigan in the Final Four. By far the best team in the country that year.
 
I’m an Illinois fan but I enjoyed that Iowa team: Fred Brown, Chad Calabria, Stick Vidnovic, John Johnson. Fun team.

Similar to 1989 for me. Illinois had beaten Michigan by 12 and 16 in the regular season. Lose on a tipin at the buzzer to Michigan in the Final Four. By far the best team in the country that year.
Combes- No way was Illinois "By far" the best team in the country that year. In fact Iowa was real close to being just as good and defeated the Illini that year and had Ray Thompson not been declared academically ineligible right before the NCAA tourney Iowa might have had something to say about that tourney.
 
In addition to the many that have already been mentioned...

Ronnie Lester injuring his knee or IA stood a great chance at a NC and robbed a great guy from a very lucrative NBA career
Ralph Miller leaving (when I was a kid)
Bucky O'Conner car accident (based on results and reputation only, well before my time)
 
I remember watching that UNLV game in the second half in a complete state of shock/disbelief/nausea. It had a large "this isn't actually happening, is it?" feel to it.
Ronnie's knee sucked huge.

But yeah, CS40 will be tops for anyone around then.
 
The Pierce - Alford debacle. Obviously, this was the worst for the victims, and their misery doesn't compare to the success of a basketball program.

But, as soon as news broke of the cover-up by Alford, I knew the integrity of the program and success was all going downhill. Iowa had the makings of a top team, and a young, well-respected coach. The team did have success without PP, but the ruin of Alford at Iowa had begun. If PP would have been a decent human being, who knows the ceiling of those teams. Pierce, Horner, Haluska, Brunner, Reiner, Thomas, Hansen, and more.

Alford slimed out the door, Lickliter brought the program to new lows, and Fran has yet to build a team as good.
 
Combes- No way was Illinois "By far" the best team in the country that year. In fact Iowa was real close to being just as good and defeated the Illini that year and had Ray Thompson not been declared academically ineligible right before the NCAA tourney Iowa might have had something to say about that tourney.

I can't seem to find an old box score to confirm it, but I think Iowa beat Illinois in IC when Kendall Gill was hurt. They destroyed us in Champaign when he was back in the lineup.

IIRC, all of Illinois' losses were when he was injured and I think they were undefeated, or damn near, with him. They went 31-5/14-4 and a Final Four, Iowa 23-10/10-8. I'm a lifelong Iowa fan who doesn't like Illinois.. Like AT ALL. Even I have to admit that Illinois was clearly better than Iowa. Iowa was talented, but this is not really even close to debatable.

Big 10 was awesome that year, though. Even Iowa won @North Carolina.. Not easy to do.

I'll grant you Iowa getting screwed by the Ray Thompson deal in the Tournament. They're at least Sweet 16 with him. If they could have gotten past Georgetown, then who knows.
 
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It's Burrows. He was 11 for 12 from the field. I believe Ralph Miller said that if Burrows played for xx years he would never go 11 for 12 again. I seem to recall that the tip-in came on a missed 25-footer, maybe by Rex Morgan. Instead of caroming like you would expect of a 25-footer, the ball died at the rim, right in front of Burrows. Jacksonville went on to lose to UCLA for the championship. Burrows went on to be a Florida state trooper. Miller was the best Iowa coach in my memory. He could have solved UCLA.
Iowa went on to score 121 ( 75 in the first half ) in the consolation game vs. ND...
 
Too many bad days to count. I'd much rather remember the good times, but, there haven't been many of those for a while now.

Bottom line, it's just pretty tough for Iowa fans right now.
I'm not sure if you are referring to the basketball team specifically or Iowa athletics in general but I would disagree either way.

You'd have to go back to the 80's to find a time when the program was more successful than it is now
 
The Pierce - Alford debacle. Obviously, this was the worst for the victims, and their misery doesn't compare to the success of a basketball program.

But, as soon as news broke of the cover-up by Alford, I knew the integrity of the program and success was all going downhill. Iowa had the makings of a top team, and a young, well-respected coach. The team did have success without PP, but the ruin of Alford at Iowa had begun. If PP would have been a decent human being, who knows the ceiling of those teams. Pierce, Horner, Haluska, Brunner, Reiner, Thomas, Hansen, and more.

Alford slimed out the door, Lickliter brought the program to new lows, and Fran has yet to build a team as good.

Iowa would have won the conference title and competed for a #1 seed if Pierce was here to play his senior season.

Horner (Sr)
Brunner (Sr)
Pierce (Sr)
Haluska (Jr)
Hansen (Sr)
Henderson (Jr)
Thomas (Sr)
Freeman (Fr)
 
I'm not sure if you are referring to the basketball team specifically or Iowa athletics in general but I would disagree either way.

You'd have to go back to the 80's to find a time when the program was more successful than it is now

Not that far back. The basketball program was also more successful in the 90's than it is has been in the 2010's under Fran.
  • The 1990's: 7 NCAA wins, a Sweet 16, and 6 tournament appearances. Seed: 7, 9, 4, 6, 8, 5 (average of 6.5)
  • The 2010's, 3 NCAA wins and 4 appearances. Seed: 11, 7, 7, 10 (average 8.75)
Davis had more appearances, more wins, and higher seeds than Fran has had, even with his own recruits.
 
1. Lester's knee
2. UNLV
3. NW St.
4. That damn fat white kid from Illinois draining a 3 to beat Iowa at the buzzer. Late 80's/early 90's. I think his name was Hamburgler or some such.
 
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