Five for Friday: Iowa Basketball Fantasy Draft Picks

With all the animosity between groups out there, and no I’m not talking Democrats and Republicans, I wanted to try something out where everyone is always correct.

On Fridays, I will throw out a topic asking for your top five in whatever the conversation is that week. I’ll give my opinion and then read your choices in the comment section. We’ll keep this going as long as there is some participation.

As these are your (or my) opinions, we can’t be wrong so just have fun with the topic.

Last week we discussed your favorite Iowa bowl games and this week it’s going to be a little more data driven in our quest.

Five for Friday

With Iowa ready to get knee-deep into it’s conference basketball schedule, I wanted to take a look at who I would pick as my top five picks in a college fantasy basketball draft. The player pool is anyone who has ever lettered at least one season for Iowa. The player would be playing in today’s version of the collegiate game.

We’ll keep it simple and use the more traditional statistical categories for our league. The eight categories include:

• Total points
• Field goal %
• Three pointers made
• Free throw percentage
• Rebounds
• Steals
• Blocks
• Assists

There you have it, a pretty easy exercise, who do you think the top five draft picks would be in a fantasy league using anyone that was a former Iowa Hawkeye?

My Five for Friday

1. John Johnson: Johnson’s name is all over the Iowa record book. He holds the Iowa record for scoring more than 30 points in a game as he accomplished this feat 13 times in his career. This was in an era where the 6-7 player didn’t have the option of shooting three pointers so I imagine he would have made at least a couple of those. In addition to scoring, Johnson could also rebound well for a player his size. Granted the average size in the 60s was smaller than today, but I envision that Johnson would rebound today similar to a Ryan Bowen type.
2. Ronnie Lester: Lester could do it all in the early 80s and with the addition of the three point line, his scoring would go up in the modern era. Lester could shoot the ball, dish the ball, and steal the ball with the best of them. A solid number two pick and I wouldn’t argue if you wanted to take him at the top.
3. Fred Brown: Another prolific scorer who would benefit from the three point line. Brown never saw a ball that he didn’t want to shoot which would affect him with lower assists totals but his propensity to score and shoot threes makes him a solid choice.
4. Kevin Kunnert: Kunnert owns the Iowa record with 48 career double-doubles. His ability to score and rebound lets him fill up the stat categories for your team on a nightly basis.
5. B.J. Armstrong: Armstrong was one of the first Hawkeyes to take advantage of the three point line as it came to be starting in his sophomore season. Armstrong wasn’t as big of a scorer as others on the list, but he could fill up the stat sheet in all the other categories (except blocks).

Also considered: Sam Williams, Don Nelson, Murray Wier, Chuck Darling, Roy Marble, Acie Earl, Jordan Bohannon, and Luka Garza.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

There you have it, my top five Iowa basketball fantasy draft picks. Let me know your choices.

Go Hawks!