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IT'S NOT PLAGIARISM IF YOU LINK TO IT: IOWA HOOPS GETTING SOME LOVE IN WAY-TOO-EARLY POLLS

Not a lot but just a little love.

By PlannedSickDays

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Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

JUST ONE DAY AFTER THE NCAA BASKETBALL SEASON ENDS. Every major news source started to look to the next season. Iowa got a little love from ESPN, appearing at #25 in their too early Top 25 (cough, homer alert, cough). Bleacher Report has Iowa at #22. RealGM hoops blog also has Iowa at #22. Elsewhere, both CBS and Yahoo do not list the Hawkeyes.

SO, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BIG TEN NEXT SEASON. Scott Dochterman has an early Power Poll and has the Hawks 6th in the league. A lot depends on which Big Ten star players opt to return for another season or depart school for the NBA. Especially at both Michigan schools.

Illinois should be on the rise with three transfers added to the lineup that had to sit this season. Minnesota is coming off an NIT Championship and Nebraska returns almost everyone. Maryland will be an interesting addition to the league and they have five four-star recruits coming in next season. And, of course, Ohio State gets five-star freshman help and transfer Anthony Lee from Temple.

IOWA WILL HAVE TO REPLACE ONE OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE PLAYERS OF ALL-TIME. Roy Devyn Marble averaged 18.3 points per game in Big Ten play. Second best in the league. He finished fifth among the all-time scoring leaders at Iowa. Just 11 points behind B.J. Armstrong. Dev is off the NBA Draft where he is considered at best a second round pick. Maybe, to the Houston Rockets.

Iowa will need to fill Marble's scoring. Mike Gesell could be that guy. With Trey Dickerson verbally committed (he signs next week), Gesell could move to off-guard and become the scorer Iowa needs. But, he did boast a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio last season and perhaps that keeps him in the point guard role.

IF NOT GESELL, IF COULD BE A NEWCOMER. Iowa has two prospects signed (in November) and another expected to sign next week. They do have two scholarships available. Willie Atwood is the main target for one. No word yet on if Iowa will look to fill the other. Brady Ellingson, Dominique Uhl and Trey Dickerson will be on campus this summer. Here's a look at how they finished their final season of basketball before they are Hawks.

FROM BASKETBALL TO FOOTBALL, LET'S TALK RUNNING BACKS. Iowa returns all of their running backs from last season. Chris White tweeted a short YouTube video of their highlights. Warning, it's rated TVMA for violent content:

IT'S ONE SUMMER NARRATIVE. How will the carries be distributed among the nine running backs on the roster? Mark Weisman and Jordan Canzeri share the first line in the season's first two deeps, separated by an "or." Ferentz mentioned position flexibility for Weisman and possibly playing fullback. Weisman is all for it mentioning he'll do whatever helps the team.

WE'LL GET TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE RUNNING BACKS TODAY. It's Wednesday so that means another spring football press conference in Iowa City. Bobby Kennedy and Chris White will take their turn before the media at 12:30 PM (CT). Both coaches have a lot of bodies at their positions so it will be interesting to hear if any of the young players on the roster are stepping up. We'll have a full recap on that tomorrow.

HAWK BASEBALL GETS ONE BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN. Iowa beat Kansas yesterday to improve to (17-12) on the season. Here's some highlights:

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