Hawkeye heaven in two seasons

Believe it or not, Iowa City is an ideal setting for success in Big Ten basketball.

Chris Duprey Dupe's Scoop

The city is four hours from Chicago, dropped in the middle of America's plains. There's not a professional sports team in sight. And besides that rare occasion when the CBA All-Star Game comes to nearby Ames, there's not much to do.

In the fall, Iowa football is the only game in town. Once the snow tires go on the F150, it's time for the basketball and wrestling teams to shine.

As far as basketball goes, that 'shining' took place here and there during Tom Davis' 12-year tenure as coach of the Hawkeyes. Davis had some very good teams, and he was the victor in over 65 percent of his games.

But he never won the Big Ten. Nor did he take Iowa to a Final Four.

Along comes a marketable name and face in Steve Alford, who was given a chance by athletics director Bob Bowlsby in 1999 to return to the league he grew up in. Alford was handed the Iowa tradition and the power and administrative support to make the program a prolific winner.

Perhaps two or three years ahead of schedule, he already has. Alford has challenged the notion that it takes 5-7 years to build a program. In the midst of his second season, his Hawkeyes are 12-2 and sit just out of the top 25 in the AP poll.

Alford has a built-in advantage over the Gene Keadys of the Big Ten. He's young enough to relate to players. He's been to the pinnacle of basketball at the college and world levels, having won the 1987 national championship at Indiana after capturing a gold medal in 1984 as part of the U.S. team.

Just as important, he's been to the ultimate destination: The NBA. And while Alford's journeyman career didn't match his feats as a collegian, it serves to remind Iowa recruits that he knows how to get where they themselves want to go.

Strategically, Alford has managed his roster as well as can be expected - all while setting the standard for discipline.

Jacob Jaacks was Alford's only post player last season. That didn't stop the coach from sanctioning him when he noticed Jaacks "catching" opponents with stray elbows.

Rob Griffin was Iowa's second-leading scorer last year, averaging 12 points a game and serving as a key cog in the Hawkeyes' offense. But when Griffin continued to run afoul of team policy, Alford dismissed him from the squad without hesitation.

The easy answer is to dismiss Alford's success by saying, "He's got Luke Recker. What else do you need?" But Alford recruited five newcomers for this season, and all five are in the playing rotation. Iowa's record is clearly not the result of one man.

Junior-college transfer Reggie Evans, in his first season on the team, is averaging a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds a game. Alford, in an understatement, calls him "special."

The young coach isn't jumping up and down just yet about his team's play. He's taking the cautious approach, as most coaches do, saying he's "pretty pleased with where we are at this point."

There's nothing wrong with that attitude. No reason to rock the boat with chest-thumping.

"Is this heaven?" Shoeless Joe Jackson asked in Field of Dreams.

"No, it's Iowa," said Ray Kinsella.

For Hawkeyes fans, those two are becoming one and the same.

- Chris Duprey can be reached

at cduprey@umich.edu.