Iowa Basketball Team Lacks Support

"What game?" UI freshman Emily Denison asked, while chatting on Facebook at a computer in Burge Hall on Thursday, sporting Iowa sweatpants and a yellow Hawkeye t-shirt. She wasn't the only one to pose the question either.

10th seed Iowa plays in the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan at 1:30 p.m. today in Indianapolis. But Denison said she has more important things to do like study, sleep or get drunk. And she isn't alone with that mentality. Other students have class, work or plan to leave the Iowa City area early for spring break.

"I've got a lot of stuff to do," UI freshman Mason Wiekert said, noting that his schedule does not allot time for a team whose 5-13 in the Big Ten, even though it is his school.

"If they were doing well," Wiekert said. "I would make an effort to watch it."

Even with the record, UI sophomore Trevor Asmussen made it to the Purdue game this year, so he wouldn't say they're an unworthy team to watch.

"It's [the season] had its ups and downs. They're a young team so there's building to do there," he said. But Asmussen, like many other UI students, doesn't plan on watching the game either.

"I didn't even know there was a game today," Asmussen said, walking away in his gray Iowa shirt, embraced inside a black jacket with an embossed Hawkeye on the front and Iowa shorts to complete his attire.

Although many students walk around campus wearing the Hawkeye emblem proudly, that doesn't necessarily mean they're boasting their team or supporting the players.

UI senior Brendan Stiles works as the sports editor for The Daily Iowan, and thinks some people might be deterred from the game because of the time of day. He picks up the front page sports section of today's edition which poses a five column headline bridging over a four column photo of Cyrus Tate and two articles on today's game. He shakes his head, not knowing how students don't know about the game.

"Apparently there's no Iowa basketball fans," Stiles said, surprised with the lack of interest in today's game. "I think the people who have been paying attention to the team know that they've been close in every game. It hasn't been a bunch of blow outs."

Whether they have fans watching or not, Iowa will compete with the 9-9 Wolverines for a shot against Illinois tomorrow night.

"That's the beauty of sports," Stiles said. "You don't know what's going to happen."

Sources:
Emily Denison
Dain Whitacre
Mason Wiekert
Trevor Asmussen
Brendan Stiles