Green Making a Difference

(St. Louis, MO) – Can a freshman lead Northern Iowa back to the upper levels of the Missouri Valley Conference? Coach Ben Jacobson thinks so and he believes A.J. Green is the kind of rookie that can make that kind of difference.

The top 100 recruit grew up around the Panther program. His father, Kyle is the Jacobson’s top assistant and Green has been at so many UNI practices that he’s practically a Panther veteran. His Cedar Falls High School career was littered with honors, championships and buckets. The 6’3 guard averaged 25.8 points per game and proved he can score at all three levels.

Green can be the difference maker for a team that has a number of significant role players.

Jacobson says he believes Green can live up to the hype and can be an impact Missouri Valley player.

 

 

Dargard Southard of the Des Moines Register tells us Green feels up to the challenge.

Sophomores Pickford and Phyfe

Last year’s freshman phenom Tywhon Pickford returns after averaging 9.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. His rebounding total set a Northern Iowa freshman record and was fifth highest in MVC history. Pickford was named to the Valley’s all-newcomer and all-freshman teams.

Fellow sophomore Austin Phyfe scored 20 points in his first start and made .615 percent of his shots and seems poised to become the Panthers’ next multi-faceted big man. Those two sophomores will be making a difference.

Fifth year senior Wyatt Lohaus and junior Isaiah Brown are bullish about the leadership of Jacobson and the anticipated impact of Green and Phyfe.

 

 

UNI played Loyola to a standstill at Arch Madness. So were the Panthers rooting for the Ramblers in the NCAA Tournament? Not exactly. Jacobson says end of the season progress gave his team some confidence. He goes on to say that Phyfe will play a significant role this year.

 

 

Lohaus and Brown will play important roles in this year’s team. In the second part of this UNI preview we’ll talk about their possible impact.

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