1978–79 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

1978–79 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
1978–79 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Big Ten Champions
NCAA Tournament Mideast Region 4 Seed
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 20
Record	20–8 (13–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lute Olson (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Jim Rosborough; Tony McAndrews;
MVP	Ronnie Lester
Home arena	Iowa Field House; (Capacity: 13,365)
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Michigan State	13	–	5	.722	26	–	6	.813
No. 15 Purdue	13	–	5	.722	27	–	8	.771
No. 20 Iowa	13	–	5	.722	20	–	8	.714
Ohio State	12	–	6	.667	19	–	12	.613
Indiana	10	–	8	.556	22	–	12	.647
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	15	–	12	.556
Illinois	7	–	11	.389	19	–	11	.633
Wisconsin	6	–	12	.333	12	–	15	.444
Minnesota	6	–	12	.333	11	–	16	.407
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	6	–	21	.222

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa in the 1978–79 college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Lute Olson and played their home games at the Iowa Field House. They finished the season with a 20–8 record and, with a 13–5 conference record, earned a Big Ten Championship (three-way tie with Michigan State and Purdue). To date, this is the last regular-season conference title for the Hawkeyes men's basketball team.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Ronnie Lester	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Chicago, Illinois
G	20	Dick Peth	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr	Tomah, Wisconsin
G	23	Kirk Speraw	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr	Sioux City, Iowa
F	24	William Mayfield	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Detroit, Michigan
G	30	Kenny Arnold	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Chicago, Illinois
G	32	Vince Brookins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Cleveland, Ohio
G	34	Tom Norman	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—		Iowa City, Iowa
F	40	Kevin Boyle	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Chicago, Illinois
F	42	Mike Henry	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Elgin, Illinois
F	44	Clay Hargrave	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Iowa City, Iowa
C	52	Steve Waite	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Iowa City, Iowa
C	54	Steve Krafcisin	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Chicago, Illinois

Head coach

Lute Olson

Assistant coach(es)

Jim Rosborough
Tony McAndrews

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date	Opponent*	Rank*	Location	Result	Overall	Conference
Big Ten Conference Standing: 1st
Regular Season Games
November 25, 1978	Kent State		Iowa City, IA	W 111–76^[1]	1–0
November 28, 1978	Wichita State		Iowa City, IA	W 91–67^[2]	2–0
December 2, 1978	Colorado State		Fort Collins, CO	L 69–72	2–1
December 9, 1978	Drake		Des Moines, IA	L 69–72^[3]	2–2
December 11, 1978	Iowa State		Iowa City, IA	W 67–66^[4]	3–2
December 16, 1978	Illinois Wesleyan		Bloomington, IL	W 99–55	4–2
December 23, 1978	Drake		Iowa City, IA	W 112–73	5–2
December 29, 1978	Penn		San Diego, CA	W 87–84 2OT	6–2
December 30, 1978	Stanford		San Diego, CA	W 83–68	7–2
January 4, 1979	Northwestern		Evanston, IL	W 65–57	8–2	1–0
January 6, 1979	#13 Michigan		Ann Arbor, MI	W 85–79	9–2	2–0
February 24, 1979	#14 Ohio State	#12	Columbus, OH	W 83–68^[5]	19–6	12–4
March 1, 1979	Michigan	#11	Iowa City, IA	L 53–61^[6]	19–7	12–5
March 3, 1979	Northwestern	#11	Iowa City, IA	W 95–64^[7]	20–7	13–5
NCAA Tournament
March 11, 1979	Toledo	#14	Bloomington, IN	L 72–74^[8]	20–8	13–5
Rank according to AP Top 20 Poll. ^#All times are in CST. Conference games in BOLD*.

Rankings

Awards and honors

Ronnie Lester – Second-Team AP All-American, Third-Team UPI and NABC All-American
Kevin Boyle – Big Ten Freshman of the Year

References

^ "Cagers seek win" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 28, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Hawks' depth aids second victory" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 29, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Iowa comeback bid falls short" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 11, 1978. p. 7. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Hawks' balanced attack edges CyClones, 67-66" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 12, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Hawks triumph in 'must win" game" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. February 26, 1979. p. 8. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Cold first half defeats Hawks" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 2, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Hawks share league title" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 5, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Wrestlers win nationals, cagers stymied: Hawks bow at buzzer" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 12, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[1] "Cagers seek win" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 28, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[2] "Hawks' depth aids second victory" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 29, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[3] "Iowa comeback bid falls short" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 11, 1978. p. 7. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[4] "Hawks' balanced attack edges CyClones, 67-66" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 12, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[5] "Hawks triumph in 'must win" game" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. February 26, 1979. p. 8. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[6] "Cold first half defeats Hawks" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 2, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[7] "Hawks share league title" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 5, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[8] "Wrestlers win nationals, cagers stymied: Hawks bow at buzzer" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 12, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

v t e Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Venues	Close Hall (1901–1904) First Iowa Armory (1905–1922) Second Iowa Armory (1922–1926) Iowa Field House (1927–1983) Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1983–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) Illinois
Culture & lore	"Iowa Fight Song" Herky the Hawk Gambling scandal First 5-on-5 college basketball game
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1892–93 1893–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–1901 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics