What Could Have Been...

It's been a rough stretch for Iowa, as four players, Jermain Davis, David Palmer, Jeff Peterson and Jake Kelly have decided to leave the program. Davis plans to go to D-II Minnesota State-Mankato. Neither Peterson, Kelly nor Palmer's intentions have been official.

The biggest blow is arguably Kelly. He came on real strong during the last month of the season at point guard, being named Big Ten Player of the Week twice and an honorable mention all-Big Ten. He looked like he was finally coming into his own. His mother died in a small plane crash last summer and reference his desire to be closer to home as his main reason for leaving the program. He's from Carmel, IN, and has been rumored to be looking at Indiana State.

I cannot sit here and bash Kelly for making his decision. As he alluded to in his last interview with the media, there are more important things than basketball and family is one of them. It would be selfish for me to sit here in front on my laptop and criticize Kelly for giving up because the truth is, he isn't like that. This one stings for many Hawkeye fans, but I don't think anybody in Hawkeye nation can badmouth Kelly's decision.

However, I don't understand Jeff Peterson's decision to transfer. It's not a playing time issue; he played the majority of minutes at point in his first two seasons, but cited his unhappiness with the coaches and not knowing his role on the team as his main points for leaving. He was playing 40 minutes/game this season and was all but cemented to be Iowa's point guard next year and in '10.

But with the subtraction of Palmer, Peterson and Kelly, the last remnants of the Steve Alford regime are all but gone. Jarryd Cole is the lone exception, as is technically Matt Gatens, who was an Alford recruit. But Gatens would have played at Iowa if Bozo the Clown were the head coach. For the third season in a row, and this will pain Iowa fans to hear this, but the Hawkeyes have lost arguably their best player due to transfer for the third year in a row, making it painfully obvious just how different coaching schemes can be. Two years ago, Tyler Smith bolted for Tennessee. Last year, Tony Freeman went to Southern Illinois. And today, Jake Kelly left.

Here's what Iowa's lineup could have looked like this season:

G -- Tony Freeman, Sr.
G -- Jake Kelly, So.
G -- Matt Gatens, Fr.
F -- Tyler Smith, Jr.
F -- Cyrus Tate, Sr.

Off the bench: Jeff Peterson, Jarryd Cole, Anthony Tucker, Devan Bawinkel

How far do you think Iowa could have gone this year with that lineup?