For the last three years, Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery, in a dual role as psychologist, did his best to drive a point home to one of his players, an easy-going, unassuming young man who was content to blend in with his teammates, to go with the flow.
McCaffery wanted Jarrod Uthoff to become selfish.
Not selfish in the traditional sense of the word, but selfish from the standpoint that the 6-foot-9, 221-pound Uthoff had to recognize his abilities — deep range on his jump shot, footwork that most players his size could only hope to have, intelligence and court awareness — could be packaged together into an offensive force, and that taking shots, whenever and wherever he wanted, was a good thing.
Uthoff, who redshirted a season after a controversial transfer from Wisconsin and then became, during the next three seasons, a key reserve, a valuable starter, and finally, a consensus All-American, needed occasional reassuring that his green light was a deeper shade of green than anyone else’s. McCaffery’s counseling in that area came full circle in the second-to-last game Uthoff played in his career, against Temple in the NCAA Tournament.
In the heat of battle, Uthoff — who for the season shot a solid 38 percent from behind the 3-point line, usually well behind it — cranked up a 30-footer.
“He just looked at me and started laughing,” McCaffery said. “That one was a little deep, and he recognized it.”
But McCaffery didn’t really mind. Uthoff was a big reason the Hawkeyes, after having suffered heavy personnel losses from a 2015 NCAA Tournament team, were able to get back to the tournament. In earning consensus All-America honors, Uthoff led the Hawkeyes in scoring and blocks and was the only player from a power conference to amass more than 600 points, 200 rebounds and 85 blocks.
At times, just as McCaffery knew would happen once Uthoff put his mind to it, the big man carried Iowa. In a game at Iowa State, he scored 30 points in the first half. At Michigan, Uthoff became the only other player in Division I this season (besides LSU’s Ben Simmons) to rack up 29 or more points, seven or more rebounds, four or more steals and three or more blocks in a game. Sixteen times, he scored 20 or more points, a team high.
Uthoff did that damage with a multi-faceted game that left opposing coaches impressed. “He’s a multidimensional guy who’s very, very difficult to guard,” Temple’s Fran Dunphy said before the NCAA Tournament.
McCaffery and his assistant coaches always knew what Uthoff could unleash.
“He’s got the total package,” Iowa assistant coach Sherman Dillard said. “He’s got unbelievable range. He’s crafty enough to rip and go on you; he can do a one-or two-dribble pull-up and can take a shot that’s hard to contest because he gets up so high, or he can take it all the way to the rack. He’s got great footwork, he passes the ball well, and he doesn’t get enough credit for his athleticism. It’s not the kind that jumps out at you, but he can rise up and flush it on you.”
Give Uthoff credit for knowing where he could best utilize those skills. After earning Iowa Mr. Basketball honors in 2011, he signed with Wisconsin, but during a redshirt season there he realized he might not be a fit for then-coach Bo Ryan’s offense. So Uthoff decided to transfer closer to home. That McCaffery had taken over at Iowa made that school the obvious choice.
“Playing on the scout team at Wisconsin, trying to imitate Iowa’s offense, I really enjoyed the way they played a free-flowing motion,” Uthoff said. “And if you get stagnant, you add a set or two and pick up the pace.”
After the 2011-12 season ended, Uthoff announced his intentions to move on. But Ryan placed severe restrictions on his list of transfer options — ACC and Big Ten schools, Iowa State and Marquette — forcing Uthoff to pay his own way to attend Iowa for a year. And because he transferred within the Big Ten without a release, he was forced to sit out a second consecutive season as a redshirt.
Once Uthoff became eligible in 2013, McCaffery’s efforts to rewire Uthoff’s unselfish mindset began.
“That was a process, a three-year process,” McCaffery said. “When he was a sophomore, he would not shoot the ball enough. You look at his shooting numbers, if he missed a couple, he would just move in, rebound, defend. So I had to tell him, get in attack mode. It’s a good shot because you shot it. Don’t worry about me. So toward the end of [his sophomore] season, he was more aggressive.”
A year later, Uthoff had Aaron White, an eventual second-round NBA Draft pick, to share the workload. “They complemented each other,” McCaffery said, “but as the season went on, you started seeing Jarrod take more games over.”
After last season, McCaffery called Uthoff into his office.
“Let’s look at this intelligently,” McCaffery told Uthoff. “We just lost three seniors. You have to be the man. I want you to take more than 15 shots a game. Go ahead and fire.”
Uthoff, who was voted the Academic All-American of the Year this season, could certainly analyze the situation intelligently. And eventually he decided McCaffery had expended enough energy compelling him to take over.
“My whole career, he yelled at me for not shooting,” Uthoff said, laughing. “I tended to want to move [the ball] on and find the best shot possible. But as my career went on, the more coach said, you’ve got to shoot that. A lot of the time, that’s the best shot possible for us.”
His confidence buoyed by a couple of in-season reminders from McCaffery, Uthoff came into his own this season, and the shots flew (487 in all, 173 from 3). Suffice it to say, where he was on the floor mattered little. NBA scouts took note of the fact that on many of his 3-point attempts, Uthoff never bothered to see where he was in relation to the arc.
“A lot of my shots were from NBA range,” Uthoff said. “I wasn’t really concerned where the [3-point] line was. If I felt comfortable, I just let it rip.”
Even from 30 feet.
That confidence, Uthoff believes, bodes well for a possible future in the NBA — some draft analysts believe he’ll be a late first-round pick — and make his transition to the next level that much easier.
Uthoff isn’t resting on his laurels. As confident as he’s become with his shooting, he spends hours a day in the gym, working on midrange jumpers and 3-pointers. “A lot of it is form shooting,” he said. “If your form is good, the result will be good. And I’m getting used to shooting on the move, which I’ll need to do in the NBA.”
Uthoff is also working on his frame. His post-up game and shot-blocking prowess were part of his college package, but he knows he has to get stronger, especially in his lower body. He’s hired a strength coach from Lithuania who’s putting Uthoff through his paces and offering a little bonus besides.
“He’s teaching me Russian,” Uthoff said. “One word a day. I figure by the time I’m done working out, I’ll know 30 words or so.”
As the buildup to the June NBA Draft continues, Uthoff plans on being ready. He’ll impress teams with his intelligence, his character and his grit, but the deciding factor in where he gets drafted will be the all-around ability McCaffery literally forced him to use.
“Coach McCaffery really influenced the kind of year I had,” Uthoff said. “He convinced me I had to take over sometimes, that I didn’t have a choice. I had the tools last year, but he needed to tell me that I had to use them this season. I owe him a lot for that.”
Chris Dortch is the editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
You can email him here, follow him on Twitter and listen to the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Hour.
