Who Was Your Favorite Hawkeye that Things Didn't Work Out in Playing Time

HawkGold

HawkGold

Well-Known Member
Mine is Greg Boyle. Thought he had excellent ball-handling and passing skills. Knee injuries kept him from getting much playing time. He was fun to watch. Not sure it would have ever equated to playing time though without the injuries.

2nd would be Randy Norton if only because I watched his son play against my kid. His son was a starter for UAB as a Freshman at pt. guard. The son had 3 knee injuries, that last one at Drake.
 
Rodell Davis. Two major knee injuries ruined his first two and a half years and he would have been valuable guarding NC State's Rodney Monroe after Ray Thompson was declared ineligible on the eve of the 1989 NCAA tournament.

He finally got some playing time late in his third season, which was pretty much a lost cause for Iowa, and quietly was the team's third leading scorer in conference play.

He fought back to be about seventy percent of what he could have been in his fourth year and was a steadying force on a team that played mostly sophomores and freshmen.

His final year was 1991-92 and as younger players like Val Barnes and Kevin Smith and James Winters came on he gradually slid farther and farther down the rotation. He was playing little by the end of the year. His knees were shot.

I have never seen another Iowa player with his skill set. Clay Hargrave comes closest to mind. At 6'3 he had a knack of scoring and rebounding inside and could guard the perimeter well. Knee brace and all he could also occasionally deliver a highlight reel dunk. A healthy Rodell Davis combined with an eligible Ray Thompson would have been a devistating double dose of athleticism on the wings for Mr. Davis.
 
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Northside Hawk said:
Rodell Davis. Two major knee injuries ruined his first two and a half years and he would have been valuable guarding NC State's Rodney Monroe after Ray Thompson was declared ineligible on the eve of the 1989 NCAA tournament.

He finally got some playing time late in his third season, which was pretty much a lost cause for Iowa, and quietly was the team's third leading scorer in conference play.

He fought back to be about seventy percent of what he could have been in his fourth year and was a steadying force on a team that played mostly sophomores and freshmen.

His final year was 1991-92 and as younger players like Val Barnes and Kevin Smith and James Winters came on he gradually slid farther and farther down the rotation. He was playing little by the end of the year. His knees were shot.

I have never seen another Iowa player with his skill set. Clay Hargrave comes closest to mind. At 6'3 he had a knack of scoring inside and could guard the perimeter well. Knee brace and all he could also occasionally deliver a highlight reel dunk. A healthy Rodell Davis combined with an eligible Ray Thompson would have been a deviating double dose of athleticism on the wings for Mr. Davis.
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Wow, that one escaped me.
 
Since playing time is an issue on the football field as well, I'm gonna nominate the WR who Fry declared as the greatest WR in Iowa history before he'd played a single down: Willie Guy (I think that was his name!) Not sure he's 'my favorite', but he definitely fits the 'things didn't work out with playing time' part of the equation.
 
We finished 12-16, 4-14 in the B1G, in the 1989-90 season, which was quite a comedown for Mr. Davis in his fourth season. But look at what could have been

PG Brian Garner (academic casualty)
G Rodell Davis (two major knee injuries, only began contributing late in the season after two in a half years of recovery)
SF Ray Thompson (academic casualty, was averaging 19.5 ppg at the time of his departure)
PF Michael Ingram (destroyed his knee early in 1988-89 season in blowout win, part time starter in final season)
C Les Jepsen (did have solid senior season, Acie Earl backed him up)

You could have gone even more athletic and substituted Matt Bullard, who had knee issues of his own, or a young Acie Earl. James Moses and Wade Lookingbill, who were thrust into starting roles they weren't ready for, could have added depth to the rotation off the bench. You could have had yourself a hell of a team.
 
Northside Hawk said:
We finished 12-16, 4-14 in the B1G, in the 1989-90 season, which was quite a comedown for Mr. Davis in his fourth season. But look at what could have been

PG Brian Garner (academic casualty)
G Rodell Davis (two major knee injuries, only began contributing late in the season after two in a half years of recovery)
SF Ray Thompson (academic casualty, was averaging 19.5 ppg at the time of his departure)
PF Michael Ingram (destroyed his knee early in 1988-89 season in blowout win, part time starter in final season)
C Les Jepsen (did have solid senior season, Acie Earl backed him up)

You could have gone even more athletic and substituted Matt Bullard, who had knee issues of his own, or a young Acie Earl. James Moses and Wade Lookingbill, who were thrust into starting roles they weren't ready for, could have added depth to the rotation off the bench. You could have had yourself a hell of a team.
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I remember a game I was at and Les Jepsen was a freshman, I believe. It was near the end of the half and he was sent to the scorers table. He was sitting there and then the horn went off signaling the end of the half. Poor Les thought he was going in and tore his pants off and was already to go in. I thought it was pretty funny.
 
Hands down for me was Ray Thompson. Completely changed the dynamic of the team and could have been a huge seller for upcoming recruits. The guy was an absolute stud in a very loaded conference. By him staying he could have changed the complexion of Iowa BBall for the next decade. He is the only guy I can think of that I remember as a sure fire NBA lottery pick.

can’t remember all of the issues revolving around his ineligibility but I remember it was BS
 
Motigerhawk said:
I remember a game I was at and Les Jepsen was a freshman, I believe. It was near the end of the half and he was sent to the scorers table. He was sitting there and then the horn went off signaling the end of the half. Poor Les thought he was going in and tore his pants off and was already to go in. I thought it was pretty funny.
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I had season tickets for the famous 1986-87 season in section KK, row 1. One night Les Jepsen and Mark Jewell tumbled out of bounds going for a loose ball and landed right in my popcorn.

Mark Jewell was a little known player who's name has probably yet to be brought up in this forum. He was from West Lafayette Indiana and Purdue's Gene Keady didn't touch him with a ten foot pole. That should have been an indicator of what was to come. Jewell couldn't get on the floor, except in garbage time, even after Al Lorenzen had his senior year cut short (back issues). He transferred out soon after.
 
You guys are bring up names I haven't thought about in a long time.

One guy who almost qualified was Brad Lohaus who was rescued by Davis from the scrap heap of Raveling. If I remember correctly, Brad contacted Lute about transferring, but Lute told him to stay and personally contacted Davis. Not sure if true, but sticks in my mind.

Going back to Greg Boyle, loved his ball handling.
 
kameltoez102 said:
Hands down for me was Ray Thompson. Completely changed the dynamic of the team and could have been a huge seller for upcoming recruits. The guy was an absolute stud in a very loaded conference. By him staying he could have changed the complexion of Iowa BBall for the next decade. He is the only guy I can think of that I remember as a sure fire NBA lottery pick.

can’t remember all of the issues revolving around his ineligibility but I remember it was BS
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Big game player, clutch player, smooth and effortless on offense, great instincts in the press, inside-out scorer, lockdown defender. It's not hyperbole to say he was Roy Marble and Kevin Gamble rolled into one as a sophomore.

He was intially declared ineligible the night before the team was to leave for the 1989 NCAA opening round. This was at the height of the well known Hunter Rawlings crusade, and his threat to unilterally make Iowa freshman ineligible. Ray didn't make the trip to Providence and boy could Iowa have used him on Rodney Monroe in round 2 of the tournament.

He came back as the clear alpha dog as a young Iowa team faced a brutal early season schedule in early 1989. Thompson came up big against North Carolina. He came up bigger at Iowa State in the face of Hilton magic. He had other big games at UNLV (who would win the championship that year) and at UNI (who would eventually make the NCAA second round) the latter two in losing efforts.

He would soon be declared academically ineligible again, this time for good. Bruce Pearl, one of the best recruiters we ever had, would soon follow him out the door. Both of them would be sorely missed.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Big game player, clutch player, smooth and effortless on offense, great instincts in the press, inside-out scorer, lockdown defender. It's not hyperbole to say he was Roy Marble and Kevin Gamble rolled into one as a sophomore.

He was intially declared ineligible the night before the team was to leave for the 1989 NCAA opening round. This was at the height of the well known Hunter Rawlings crusade, and his threat to unilterally make Iowa freshman ineligible. Ray didn't make the trip to Providence and boy could Iowa have used him on Rodney Monroe in round 2 of the tournament.

He came back as the clear alpha dog as a young Iowa team faced a brutal early season schedule in early 1989. Thompson came up big against North Carolina. He came up bigger at Iowa State in the face of Hilton magic. He had other big games at UNLV (who would win the championship that year) and at UNI (who would eventually make the NCAA second round) the latter two in losing efforts.

He would soon be declared academically ineligible again, this time for good. Bruce Pearl, one of the best recruiters we ever had, would soon follow him out the door. Both of them would be sorely missed.
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Bruce Pearle, what to do about the legacy of Bruce..... there is little doubt the Illini were as dirty as could be for the era, but Bruce....and George....
 
HawkGold said:
You guys are bring up names I haven't thought about in a long time.

One guy who almost qualified was Brad Lohaus who was rescued by Davis from the scrap heap of Raveling. If I remember correctly, Brad contacted Lute about transferring, but Lute told him to stay and personally contacted Davis. Not sure if true, but sticks in my mind.

Going back to Greg Boyle, loved his ball handling.
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And then we would play Lute and Arizona in Mr. Davis's first year at Iowa and Lohaus helped us beat Arizona.

We were set to play them again in the NCAA'S, but UTEP, despite having approximately 37 players foul out, survived in overtime and advanced. But their battle with Arizona took its toll. UTEP wore down physically the last eight minutes against Iowa in the second round as Iowa by comparison had an easy first round game.
 
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kameltoez102 said:
Hands down for me was Ray Thompson. Completely changed the dynamic of the team and could have been a huge seller for upcoming recruits. The guy was an absolute stud in a very loaded conference. By him staying he could have changed the complexion of Iowa BBall for the next decade. He is the only guy I can think of that I remember as a sure fire NBA lottery pick.

can’t remember all of the issues revolving around his ineligibility but I remember it was BS
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IIRC the U of I had slightly higher academic standards than NCAA and Big Ten and several other Big 10 teams did one of which was of course jNW. Fry bumped heads with the UI Prez once in awhile about this but Thompson was a major major casualty of this. I do not think there was anything but this as people thought anyone thought he had scholastic problems. And of course he was declared ineligible right before the tournament which must have been a mid-semester check on grades.
 
Joey Range would be another to consider. Came in as a highly touted Top 50 recruit out of Galesburg. Kentucky was also one of his finalists. Distance was a factor in his decision but so was he like of Mr. Davis. Davis was "fired" after his one year at Iowa and he did not like Alford so he was gone. Had numerous distractions he dealt with and his BB career never took off at Iowa or elsewhere.
 
ohhawk said:
Joey Range would be another to consider. Came in as a highly touted Top 50 recruit out of Galesburg. Kentucky was also one of his finalists. Distance was a factor in his decision but so was he like of Mr. Davis. Davis was "fired" after his one year at Iowa and he did not like Alford so he was gone. Had numerous distractions he dealt with and his BB career never took off at Iowa or elsewhere.
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You beat me to it. He was really special too. Although I would have to agree with the posters above Ray Thompson was #1 on this list.
 
ohhawk said:
Joey Range would be another to consider. Came in as a highly touted Top 50 recruit out of Galesburg. Kentucky was also one of his finalists. Distance was a factor in his decision but so was he like of Mr. Davis. Davis was "fired" after his one year at Iowa and he did not like Alford so he was gone. Had numerous distractions he dealt with and his BB career never took off at Iowa or elsewhere.
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Wasn't it Galesburg IL?
 
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