Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson Holding the Line

Still Recruiting High School Players

(St. Louis, MO) – Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson still believes in recruiting high school players. The Panthers have been picked to finish second in this year’s Missouri Valley Conference and Jacobson’s roster is largely home grown.

Transfer Jacob Hutson (who they recruited when he was in high school) is the only player on this year’s roster that didn’t come straight to Cedar Falls from their high school campus. Jacobson and the Panther program is something of a unicorn.

Belmont’s Casey Alexander would be the other Valley coach carrying a similar recruiting philosophy. It could change for both of these veteran coaches, but for now, we appreciate that they are willing to swim upstream against the tide of the ‘portal pandemic’.

Here is our conversation with the four-time MVC ‘Coach of the Year’.

Born and Anderson Weigh In

Two of those players, Bowen Born and Tytan Anderson visited with us at the Valley’s media day. Born was named to the league’s preseason all-conference team and Anderson received second-team recognition. They were the only UNI players voted to all-league recognition.

Anderson returns as the Valley’s defending rebounding champion (8.5 per game) and Born finished fourth in scoring (17.9 ppg).

Born tells us he needs to be more selective with his offensive game and brags about newcomer Hutson and freshman Kyle Pock. Anderson says the return of Nate Heise, the arrival of Hutson and the growth of sophomores Michael Duax and Landon Wolf will make his job easier.

The 6’5 forward says the Panther program is all about family.

Here is our conversation.

BartTorvic.com says the Panthers return 91% of their ‘returning possession minutes’. Veteran guard Nate Heise returns to the squad after missing all but two games last season. His injured hand is healed and brings another weapon to the UNI arsenal. During his second season in Cedar Falls he averaged 8.6 points, making .355 from deep and adding 4.6 rebounds.

Incoming freshmen Wes Rubin, Kyle Pock and R.J. Taylor give UNI a wealth of talent and Jacobson’s team is simultaneously experienced and young. There are no seniors on this year’s team.

While college basketball is rushing head long into the portal pandemic, Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson continues to build ‘the old fashioned way’.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo courtesy of unipanthers.com.