Hubbard Faces Iowa Media, Questions on Past

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Anthony Hubbard is in Iowa City and on Wednesday, he sat through a 40-minute question and answer sessions with Iowa media members.

As I wrote yesterday, I believe this was a good idea; get Hubbard in front of the Iowa press as soon as possible, allow everyone to ask all of the questions they want to ask and after that, it's all about basketball, the team and the future...or at least, that is what Iowa wants to have happen.

I think the attention Hubbard's commitment to Iowa has received is fair and to be expected; when is the last time you can recall a 26-year old first year Big Ten player? That in and of itself would be a novelty, but when the reason for the 'delayed start' is due to that person having played a role (the driver) during a robbery eight years ago and had served nearly four years in prison and then turns his life around and receives a scholarship to a Big Ten basketball program, that's where this story veers right off the road into virgin territory.

If Hubbard plays well, or really well and helps Iowa turn around its basketball fortunes, this story is going to gain national attention...features on Hubbard's road to redemption and possibly the program's road to redemption will be predictable features on every telecast, just like the cutaways to combines in cornfields coming back from timeouts during football season.

So while Wednesday's press conference will help this phase of Hubbard's Iowa career move into the rearview mirror, the questions about his past may not be totally over with, something Press Citizen writer Pat Harty opines about at this piece and something Fran McCaffery understands.

“I think we have to be realistic, in particular if he starts to play real well,â€￾ McCaffery said after Wednesday’s press conference. “The better he plays, than all the sudden, the national guys are asking the same questions we just answered. “But I think it was important to do what we did today, just get out in front of it, which we did from the beginning. We didn’t hide anything. And then he can just, to the best of his ability, live his life and be as normal as possible.â€￾

Give the link above a click if for nothing more than to see how Melsahn Basabe is needling Hubbard about his age...a classic line in there.

I remain of the opinion that people like Hubbard, people that have been granted grace and second chances, people that have been to some pretty low depths, those folks tend to appreciate the second chances and don't take them for granted...I think there is a good chance he is going to be all about school and basketball...I think there is a good chance he may log more minutes in Iowa's nearly completed, 24-7 access practice facility than any of his teammates because trouble can't find you there...that, and he's not 18 so the Ped Mall scene may be well behind him.

The proof will be in the pudding of course and I really look forward to the Hawks lacing them up this fall...but you don't have to wait that long to watch Hubbard play.

Hubbard will get his first chance to play in front of Iowa fans on Sunday when the Prime Time league tips off...if you're going, bring your video camera and upload the vids to youtube, let us know where they are and we will post them on the site.

Here are more Hubbard related links:

VIDEO: Hubbard Faces Media | HawkeyeInsider.com
Hubbard Ready to Move on at Iowa | HawkeyeSports.com
Barta, McCaffery Vouch for Hubbard | Hawkcentral.com
Hubbard Discusses Journey to Iowa | The Gazette
On to Basketball for Hubbard | HawkCentral.com
Hubbard Up to Challenge of Second Chance | The Hawkeye
 
last comment from Fran sounds like he wants to win a BT Championship really soon, before Hub is gone.
 
Having been a non-traditional student and also having taught Iowa hoop players, the academic aspect is going to be a true challenge. I hope they get a really strong academic advisor in place. Because I was fully able to engage the work, but I did not work very efficiently at first. It would have been very hard for me to succeed in both a major sport and academics, even after doing my full-stint in JC.

The trick is to not think just exerting more effort will work. Instead, you need to learn efficiency and that is not as easy as it sounds, but a good academic advisor and/or tutor can really help.
 
He will certainly have academic support, as is available to all athletes. He performed well at the JC level, too.
 
CAARHawk said:
Having been a non-traditional student and also having taught Iowa hoop players, the academic aspect is going to be a true challenge. I hope they get a really strong academic advisor in place. Because I was fully able to engage the work, but I did not work very efficiently at first. It would have been very hard for me to succeed in both a major sport and academics, even after doing my full-stint in JC.

The trick is to not think just exerting more effort will work. Instead, you need to learn efficiency and that is not as easy as it sounds, but a good academic advisor and/or tutor can really help.
Click to expand...

Having seen the average freshman try to express himself in front of the camera and Hubbard, knowing what he had to get through to get here, I'd worry more about the freshman class and academics than Hub in the classroom.
 
I suspect Hubbard will be just fine. He certainly came across as a young man who has had to grow up quickly, in ways most of us could never relate to. Good idea to hold this presser, get it out of the way now. If, as we all hope, Hubbard tears it up and gets national attention, it will be easier to say, "Hey, that's already out there -- old news."
 
I have complete faith that Fran and Co. did their homework on Hubbard and think this is a great move by the athletic department.

Its nice to see the athletic department get out ahead of a story and be proactive for once.
 
Section136 said:
I have complete faith that Fran and Co. did their homework on Hubbard and think this is a great move by the athletic department.

Its nice to see the athletic department get out ahead of a story and be proactive for once.
Click to expand...

Kirk, are you paying attention? :)
 
This reminds me a tiny bit of ISU's transfers. People think the transfers are going to be trouble but any trouble that has happened has been with other, younger, players.

He's 26 and has been around the block. Frankly, I think there is less to worry about with Hubbard than virtually any other player on the team.
 
Good move by Fran and Barta. The next big press event is media day in October,and these Iowa writers will have had their day with this story,and can concentrate on the team. Ducking the press,or worse,lying,like Weiner,is not how to handle tough issues like this...just makes it worse. Come clean, be accessable,and move on. Well done, Fran,Barta,and Hub.
 
Cydkar said:
This reminds me a tiny bit of ISU's transfers. People think the transfers are going to be trouble but any trouble that has happened has been with other, younger, players.

He's 26 and has been around the block. Frankly, I think there is less to worry about with Hubbard than virtually any other player on the team.
Click to expand...

Lets not get carried away here.
 
JonDMiller said:
He will certainly have academic support, as is available to all athletes. He performed well at the JC level, too.
Click to expand...

I did well enough in JC to transfer to the top public institution in the nation, the issue is not CAN he succeed, the issue is whether he can find a way to do it efficiently. When I first got to the university, I was studying 7-10 hours a day, because I didn't now HOW to study efficiently.

That is a common issue with non-trads. We try to compensate with effort. That is fine if you have the time to do it.
 
CAARHawk said:
I did well enough in JC to transfer to the top public institution in the nation, the issue is not CAN he succeed, the issue is whether he can find a way to do it efficiently. When I first got to the university, I was studying 7-10 hours a day, because I didn't now HOW to study efficiently.

That is a common issue with non-trads. We try to compensate with effort. That is fine if you have the time to do it.
Click to expand...

WTF? I might have gotten in 7-10 hours in a SEMESTER, and I thought that was alot! :D School must have sucked for you!
 
deanvogs said:
WTF? I might have gotten in 7-10 hours in a SEMESTER, and I thought that was alot! :D School must have sucked for you!
Click to expand...

Learned in year two how to cut it about in half. But I went to Berkeley. To give you a comparison, the first year I was there, they turned away 7000 4.0 applicants.

Whole different experience from Iowa. Undergrad students at Iowa read about a tenth of what Berkeley students read.

So yeah, now that I think about it, my experience is probably totally unrelated to what his will be. Nevermind.
 
CAARHawk said:
Learned in year two how to cut it about in half. But I went to Berkeley. To give you a comparison, the first year I was there, they turned away 7000 4.0 applicants.

Whole different experience from Iowa. Undergrad students at Iowa read about a tenth of what Berkeley students read.

So yeah, now that I think about it, my experience is probably totally unrelated to what his will be. Nevermind.
Click to expand...

Gotcha....I was thinking you were talking about Iowa. Makes more sense now!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top