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In a few days the UNI mens basketball team will be doing something no other USA university/college basketball team has ever done and that is play in the World University Games with players from only one university/college. This is an unprecedented occurrence at the WUG for a team from the USA and it maybe the one only time it ever happens! This is a very exciting time to be a UNI coach, player, staff member and fan, a historic event and hopefully all of you realize the importance of this to the University of Northern Iowa.
The USA has had great success at the WUG in men’s basketball. All time, in 18 World University Games, The United States has claimed 13 gold medals in men’s basketball and has won a medal in all 18 they have played in. The USA has posted an overall record of 125 wins and just 7 losses. In 2005, the last WUG, the USA won the gold medal by defeating Ukraine 85-70. Villanova’s head coach Jay Wright led the USA to the victory.
Here is a little more information about the World University Games. The WUG are held every two years and attracts more than 7,000 athletes from more than 150 participating countries. It is open to student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25 years old who are enrolled in full-course study at a university. At the WUG the compulsory sports contested are track and field, basketball, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis and volleyball. The optional sports are golf, softball, badminton, shooting and taekwondo.
Lets get back to talking World University Games mens basketball and some interesting notes.
1) After not officially sending a USA basketball mens team to the 2003 WUG the USA won it in 2005.
2) Iowa’s Greg Brunner played on the gold medal team in 2005.
3) UNI will take approx. 15 players to the WUG and will have to establish a 12 man official roster once they arrive in Bangkok, Thailand and only those 12 players will be able to compete in the games. NOTE: Graduated seniors Brooks Mckowen and Grant Stout will make the trip and will be on the 12 man playing roster.
4) UNI was granted a waiver by the NCAA where incoming freshman are eligible to play in this tournament and if they do they can NOT redshirt during their freshman year at UNI. I don’t look for any incoming UNI freshman to play in the WUG games.
5) There are number of different playing rules that UNI will have to adjust to including the following:
a) four 10 minute quarters; not 2 twenty minute halves
b) 24 second shot clock instead of the 35 second shot clock
c) 8 seconds back court violation instead of 10 seconds
d) The playing court is approx. 3 feet shorter than the 94 foot college court
e) Only the head coach can call a time out during the game
f) you can touch the ball while it is above the rim and also when it is ON the rim!
g) the fifth foul by a team in each period gives the opponent 2 free throws
h) legal jersey numbers are 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15, and that is it! Who is going to wear lucky number 13?!?!
i) The size of the lane is 3 feet larger
j) the 3 point line is 20 feet 6 inches which is 9 inches further out
The game ball is also a little bit different that what the UNI players are used too. The ball is nearly the same size and weight as the balls the NCAA uses but some of the UNI players and coaches say it doesn’t have the same feel. Eric Coleman was quoted as saying, “ It doesn’t want to break in too easy. When it gets wet it just wants to fly all over the place.” The FIBA basketball has orange colored panels with a large tan stripe running threw it.
As far as uniforms go, the UNI Panthers will wear the red, white and blue of the USA which is a switch from what was the original plan. The Panthers thought they would be wearing their UNI uniforms but FIBA rules and the WUG rules state that teams have to wear their countries colors so the Panthers will wear the red, white and blue!
As far as the players go, look for Jordan Eglseder to play major minutes in the WUG. The 7’ 1” center has really developed over the summer, lost some weight, put on some muscle and could have a huge tournament. It will also be exciting to see Carlton Reed in uniform and able to play for the first time as a UNI Panther. Carlton brings a boat load of ability and basketball knowledge to the team and will be a welcome addition. Eric Coleman is better than ever. Look for the E train to be more focused and become a more vocal leader now that he is a senior and that should start with the opening games in Bangkok. Cole-train could have a hay day swatting balls off and/or above the rim to deny the opponents baskets! The point guard spot will be handled by Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Jared Josten. Josten was nursing a sprained ankle but appeared healthy at the teams open house practice on Tuesday July 31. Look for the coaching staff to call on graduated senior Brooks Mckowen to play the point also. Brooks is going to be a grad assistant on the UNI coaching staff this year and he is on the 15 man roster and is expected to be on the 12 man playing roster. The Panthers will have to get solid play out of Adam Koch, Travis Brown and Adam Viet if they hope to reach the medal round. The Panthers also announced that Grant Stout, like Mckowen a graduated senior, will make the trip to Bangkok and will be on the 12 man playing roster so that will give this team some much needed depth and experience as they take on the world in the WUG.
Here is the expected 12 man playing roster unless someone were to get injured, sick, etc before they play their first game in Bangkok:
Graduated seniors Brooks Mckowen and Grant Stout, 8 returning players that played on last years team Eric Coleman, Adam Koch, Jordan Eglseder, Travis Brown, Jared Josten, Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Adam Viet, Brian Haak and then 2 redshirted players in Carlton Reed and Kerwin Dunham.
I look for the coaching staff to try and play the returning players along with Reed and Dunham as much as possible but when it is crunch time or if the opponent is a little more skilled or has a number of veteran players that may have or are playing in that countries pro league look for Mckowen and Stout to play more and help UNI/Team USA win the game!
The team has been working on putting in a new offense, the triangle offense, an offense similar to the offense that Phil Jackson made famous with the Bulls. To run this offense you don’t need a true point guard and that might be the ticket for this team that lost a four year starter at point guard in Brooks Mckowen.
One thing to keep in mind, this will not be an easy assignment for the UNI basketball team. In 2005 the USA won the gold medal at the WUG but that USA team also had five future NBA players on that team! All star teams from the USA have been very successful but this is a tall order for a team to take on as they haven’t played a game together all year, a team that could practice only 10 times before playing in the tournament. This 10 days of practice time is a NCAA rule that UNI must follow but their competition, which doesn’t have to follow NCAA rules, could have been practicing together all summer and playing an unlimited number of games to get ready for the WUG. Also, keep in mind, the WUG are designed for full time students at universities that are 17-25 years of age but according to some of the other USA coaches that have coached teams in this event not all teams seem to follow that rule. Some coaches reported players of various ages and felt that some had been playing in pro leagues in their country so this will be a tough test for this group of players from UNI.
With that said, look for UNI to be very competitive and lets hope all goes well for the guys in purple and gold, or should I say for the guys wearing and representing the red, white and blue! GO Panthers, GO UNI, GO University of Northern Iowa, GO Cedar Falls, GO Cedar Valley, GO state of Iowa and Go get ‘em USA!!!
The USA has had great success at the WUG in men’s basketball. All time, in 18 World University Games, The United States has claimed 13 gold medals in men’s basketball and has won a medal in all 18 they have played in. The USA has posted an overall record of 125 wins and just 7 losses. In 2005, the last WUG, the USA won the gold medal by defeating Ukraine 85-70. Villanova’s head coach Jay Wright led the USA to the victory.
Here is a little more information about the World University Games. The WUG are held every two years and attracts more than 7,000 athletes from more than 150 participating countries. It is open to student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25 years old who are enrolled in full-course study at a university. At the WUG the compulsory sports contested are track and field, basketball, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis and volleyball. The optional sports are golf, softball, badminton, shooting and taekwondo.
Lets get back to talking World University Games mens basketball and some interesting notes.
1) After not officially sending a USA basketball mens team to the 2003 WUG the USA won it in 2005.
2) Iowa’s Greg Brunner played on the gold medal team in 2005.
3) UNI will take approx. 15 players to the WUG and will have to establish a 12 man official roster once they arrive in Bangkok, Thailand and only those 12 players will be able to compete in the games. NOTE: Graduated seniors Brooks Mckowen and Grant Stout will make the trip and will be on the 12 man playing roster.
4) UNI was granted a waiver by the NCAA where incoming freshman are eligible to play in this tournament and if they do they can NOT redshirt during their freshman year at UNI. I don’t look for any incoming UNI freshman to play in the WUG games.
5) There are number of different playing rules that UNI will have to adjust to including the following:
a) four 10 minute quarters; not 2 twenty minute halves
b) 24 second shot clock instead of the 35 second shot clock
c) 8 seconds back court violation instead of 10 seconds
d) The playing court is approx. 3 feet shorter than the 94 foot college court
e) Only the head coach can call a time out during the game
f) you can touch the ball while it is above the rim and also when it is ON the rim!
g) the fifth foul by a team in each period gives the opponent 2 free throws
h) legal jersey numbers are 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15, and that is it! Who is going to wear lucky number 13?!?!
i) The size of the lane is 3 feet larger
j) the 3 point line is 20 feet 6 inches which is 9 inches further out
The game ball is also a little bit different that what the UNI players are used too. The ball is nearly the same size and weight as the balls the NCAA uses but some of the UNI players and coaches say it doesn’t have the same feel. Eric Coleman was quoted as saying, “ It doesn’t want to break in too easy. When it gets wet it just wants to fly all over the place.” The FIBA basketball has orange colored panels with a large tan stripe running threw it.
As far as uniforms go, the UNI Panthers will wear the red, white and blue of the USA which is a switch from what was the original plan. The Panthers thought they would be wearing their UNI uniforms but FIBA rules and the WUG rules state that teams have to wear their countries colors so the Panthers will wear the red, white and blue!
As far as the players go, look for Jordan Eglseder to play major minutes in the WUG. The 7’ 1” center has really developed over the summer, lost some weight, put on some muscle and could have a huge tournament. It will also be exciting to see Carlton Reed in uniform and able to play for the first time as a UNI Panther. Carlton brings a boat load of ability and basketball knowledge to the team and will be a welcome addition. Eric Coleman is better than ever. Look for the E train to be more focused and become a more vocal leader now that he is a senior and that should start with the opening games in Bangkok. Cole-train could have a hay day swatting balls off and/or above the rim to deny the opponents baskets! The point guard spot will be handled by Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Jared Josten. Josten was nursing a sprained ankle but appeared healthy at the teams open house practice on Tuesday July 31. Look for the coaching staff to call on graduated senior Brooks Mckowen to play the point also. Brooks is going to be a grad assistant on the UNI coaching staff this year and he is on the 15 man roster and is expected to be on the 12 man playing roster. The Panthers will have to get solid play out of Adam Koch, Travis Brown and Adam Viet if they hope to reach the medal round. The Panthers also announced that Grant Stout, like Mckowen a graduated senior, will make the trip to Bangkok and will be on the 12 man playing roster so that will give this team some much needed depth and experience as they take on the world in the WUG.
Here is the expected 12 man playing roster unless someone were to get injured, sick, etc before they play their first game in Bangkok:
Graduated seniors Brooks Mckowen and Grant Stout, 8 returning players that played on last years team Eric Coleman, Adam Koch, Jordan Eglseder, Travis Brown, Jared Josten, Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Adam Viet, Brian Haak and then 2 redshirted players in Carlton Reed and Kerwin Dunham.
I look for the coaching staff to try and play the returning players along with Reed and Dunham as much as possible but when it is crunch time or if the opponent is a little more skilled or has a number of veteran players that may have or are playing in that countries pro league look for Mckowen and Stout to play more and help UNI/Team USA win the game!
The team has been working on putting in a new offense, the triangle offense, an offense similar to the offense that Phil Jackson made famous with the Bulls. To run this offense you don’t need a true point guard and that might be the ticket for this team that lost a four year starter at point guard in Brooks Mckowen.
One thing to keep in mind, this will not be an easy assignment for the UNI basketball team. In 2005 the USA won the gold medal at the WUG but that USA team also had five future NBA players on that team! All star teams from the USA have been very successful but this is a tall order for a team to take on as they haven’t played a game together all year, a team that could practice only 10 times before playing in the tournament. This 10 days of practice time is a NCAA rule that UNI must follow but their competition, which doesn’t have to follow NCAA rules, could have been practicing together all summer and playing an unlimited number of games to get ready for the WUG. Also, keep in mind, the WUG are designed for full time students at universities that are 17-25 years of age but according to some of the other USA coaches that have coached teams in this event not all teams seem to follow that rule. Some coaches reported players of various ages and felt that some had been playing in pro leagues in their country so this will be a tough test for this group of players from UNI.
With that said, look for UNI to be very competitive and lets hope all goes well for the guys in purple and gold, or should I say for the guys wearing and representing the red, white and blue! GO Panthers, GO UNI, GO University of Northern Iowa, GO Cedar Falls, GO Cedar Valley, GO state of Iowa and Go get ‘em USA!!!
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