HAWK TALK

December 2016

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21 Jordan Bohannon has heard the stories, now 35 years old. e stories of his dad, Gordy, and Iowa's remarkable 1981 football team. e Hawkeyes had not enjoyed a winning season since 1961, but Iowa shocked Nebraska in the season opener, 10-7, finished 8-4, shared the Big Ten title with Ohio State, and went to the Rose Bowl. It was a program-changing season, and Gordy Bohannon was Iowa's quarterback. "I heard they pretty much set the tone for the program," Jordan said. Now, 35 years later, Jordan is a legacy Hawkeye trying to make a name for himself as a freshman point guard on Iowa's basketball team. Gordy played some point guard himself at South Pasadena (California) High School, before turning to football fulltime. Jordan has followed in the footsteps of his three older brothers to the basketball floor. Jason played at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2010, scoring 1,170 points and finishing in the top five in career 3-pointers attempted and made. Zach started at Air Force and transferred to Wisconsin, playing in 70 career games. He completed his career in 2014. And Matt was a senior at Northern Iowa last season, finishing with 1,092 points, and is the Panthers' career leader in both 3-pointers attempted (690) and made (268). Now Jordan wants to build on that legacy. Sure, he's Gordy's kid. But he's also Jason, Zach, and Matt's brother. And he's leaning on all of them as he negotiates his way through his first season of Division I basketball. Jordan has had some bright moments four games in. And some tough moments, too. Like that stretch of the second half against Seton Hall on Nov. 17, when he turned the ball over several times. "I made dumb decisions with the ball," Jordan said. Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery took Bohannon out of the game. But instead of hanging his head, Bohannon's eyes remained focused on the game in front of him. "e coaches talked to me, especially aer that game, to keep my head up and believe in myself," Jordan said. "ey reminded me that I'm a freshman. ere are going to be mistakes that happen, but it's not that moment that should define you. It's how you bounce back from adversity and how you apply it to the next game." Jordan has more than coaches to lean on. He's got his dad and his brothers, too. "My parents (Gordy and Brenda) were there for me aer the game," Jordan said. "ey reminded me to learn from my mistakes. And my brothers all went through it as freshmen. ey told me stories about what happened their freshman years, and how the coach got into them and they kept believing in themselves. Obviously they all had pretty good careers aer that." All three brothers are back in the state of Iowa now, and get to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to watch Jordan play when they can. Jason is a financial advisor in Hiawatha, Matt works in accounting and auditing in Des Moines. Zach is a financial advisor and business consultant in Cedar Rapids. Bohannon is averaging 23.4 minutes and 7.7 points a game. He has 32 assists to 16 turnovers. Aer being the go-to guy on offense at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, where he won Iowa Mr. Basketball honors in 2016, he's still making the adjustment from shooter to setup guy. "In high school I was shooting a lot of contested shots," Bohannon said. "Coming to college, we're looking more for Peter (Jok) and Tyler (Cook), so I have to evolve into that role. It's going to take time, but I'm getting to the point where I know what shots I can and can't take." e most important number on Bohannon's box score line Nov. 20 against Texas-Rio Grande Valley might have been 24 minutes he played. He played 32 minutes and scored 23 points Nov. 29 at Notre Dame in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. "Games like this will help me in the long run," Jordan said. DECEMBER SCHEDULE Dec. 4 vs. Northern Iowa Dec. 7 vs. Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) Dec. 9 vs. Robert Morris Dec. 18 at Drake Dec. 20 vs. Kent State Dec. 29 at Illinois Dec. 31 vs. Nebraska

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