1979–80 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1979–80 college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Lute Olson and played their home games at the Iowa Field House. They finished with a 23–10 (10–8 Big Ten) record, and reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament as champions of the East Region. To date, this is Iowa's most recent appearance in the NCAA Final Four in men's basketball.

1979–80 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	23–10 (10–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lute Olson (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Jim Rosborough (6th season) Tony McAndrews (3rd season) Ken Burmeister (1st season)
MVP	Ronnie Lester
Home arena	Iowa Field House
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 7 Indiana	13	–	5		.722			21	–	8		.724
No. 10 Ohio State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	8		.724
No. 20 Purdue	11	–	7		.611			23	–	10		.697
Iowa	10	–	8		.556			23	–	10		.697
Minnesota	10	–	8		.556			21	–	11		.656
Illinois	8	–	10		.444			22	–	13		.629
Michigan	8	–	10		.444			17	–	13		.567
Wisconsin	7	–	11		.389			15	–	14		.517
Michigan State	6	–	12		.333			12	–	15		.444
Northwestern	5	–	13		.278			10	–	17		.370
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1979–80 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 23 Mike Arens 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Chicago, Illinois G 30 Kenny Arnold 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Chicago, Illinois G 14 Greg Boyle 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Mundelein, Illinois F 40 Kevin Boyle 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Chicago, Illinois G 32 Vince Brookins 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Cleveland, Ohio F 20 Jon Darsee 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So West Des Moines, Iowa F 44 Mark Gannon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Iowa City, Iowa G 10 Tom Grogan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 179 lb (81 kg) Fr Kansas City, Kansas G 24 Bob Hansen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Des Moines, Iowa F 50 Mike Heller 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr St. Paul, Minnesota F 42 Mike Henry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Elgin, Illinois C 54 Steve Krafcisin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Chicago, Illinois G 12 Ronnie Lester 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Chicago, Illinois C 52 Steve Waite 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Iowa City, Iowa	Head coach Lute Olson Assistant coach(es) Jim Rosborough Tony McAndrews Ken Burmeister Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 1, 1979*		Northern Illinois	W 86–43	1–0	15 – Krafcisin	8 – Krafcisin	4 – Tied	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
December 3, 1979*		Colorado State	W 113–66	2–0	19 – Krafcisin	9 – Krafcisin	9 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
December 6, 1979*	No. 20	Northern Iowa	W 78–46	3–0	21 – Lester	8 – Boyle	7 – Hansen	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
December 8, 1979*	No. 20	at Detroit	W 80–54	4–0	26 – Lester	15 – Waite	3 – Tied	Calihan Hall (6,123) Detroit, MI
December 11, 1979*	No. 17	at Wichita State	W 81–62	5–0	23 – Lester	9 – Arnold	3 – Tied	Charles Koch Arena (10,535) Wichita, KS
December 15, 1979*	No. 17	at Iowa State Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series	W 67–64	6–0	23 – Lester	9 – Waite	5 – Lester	Hilton Coliseum (14,000) Ames, IA
December 21, 1979*	No. 13	vs. Mississippi State UD Invitational Tournament Semifinals	W 81–62	7–0	18 – Arnold	11 – Waite	8 – Arnold	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, OH
December 22, 1979*	No. 13	at Dayton UD Invitational Tournament Finals	W 61–54	8–0	17 – Arnold	8 – Krafcisin	4 – Arnold	University of Dayton Arena (10,612) Dayton, OH
December 29, 1979*	No. 11	Drake	W 77–66	9–0	20 – Brookins	14 – Brookins	6 – Boyle	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
January 3, 1980	No. 10	at No. 20 Illinois	W 72–71	10–0 (1–0)	21 – Boyle	7 – Tied	4 – Boyle	Assembly Hall (10,839) Champaign, IL
January 5, 1980	No. 10	at Michigan	L 65–68	10–1 (1–1)	25 – Brookins	6 – Krafcisin	3 – Tied	Crisler Arena (11,047) Ann Arbor, MI
January 10, 1980	No. 12	No. 3 Ohio State	L 71–77	10–2 (1–2)	14 – Tied	12 – Tied	6 – Boyle	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
January 12, 1980	No. 12	Wisconsin	W 66–65	11–2 (2–2)	15 – Krafcisin	9 – Krafcisin	4 – Tied	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
January 17, 1980	No. 13	at No. 19 Indiana	L 69–81	11–3 (2–3)	16 – Krafcisin	10 – Krafcisin	5 – Tied	Assembly Hall (17,136) Bloomington, IN
January 19, 1980	No. 13	at Michigan State	L 67–75	11–4 (2–4)	16 – Tied	10 – Krafcisin	6 – Arnold	Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI
January 24, 1980		Northwestern	W 86–64	12–4 (3–4)	24 – Boyle	10 – Krafcisin	7 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
January 26, 1980		Minnesota	W 80–73	13–4 (4–4)	27 – Arnold	10 – Waite	7 – Boyle	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
January 31, 1980		at No. 17 Purdue	L 56–70	13–5 (4–5)	17 – Krafcisin	10 – Krafcisin	3 – Hansen	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
February 2, 1980		at Minnesota	W 73–63	14–5 (5–5)	19 – Arnold	9 – Krafcisin	4 – Arnold	Williams Arena (17,506) Minneapolis, MN
February 7, 1980		Michigan State	W 44–39 ^OT	15–5 (6–5)	20 – Krafcisin	6 – Waite	6 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
February 9, 1980		No. 12 Purdue	W 74–59	16–5 (7–5)	20 – Arnold	12 – Boyle	6 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,366) Iowa City, IA
February 14, 1980	No. 20	Indiana	L 55–66	16–6 (7–6)	13 – Hansen	8 – Tied	7 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,366) Iowa City, IA
February 16, 1980	No. 20	at Northwestern	W 60–58	17–6 (8–6)	15 – Boyle	8 – Krafcisin	4 – Arnold	Welsh–Ryan Arena (6,679) Evanston, IL
February 21, 1980	No. 12	at Wisconsin	L 58–62	17–7 (8–7)	23 – Krafcisin	5 – Krafcisin	5 – Boyle	Wisconsin Field House (13,365) Madison, WI
February 23, 1980		at No. 11 Ohio State	L 69–70	17–8 (8–8)	20 – Krafcisin	11 – Waite	6 – Hansen	St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH
February 28, 1980		Michigan	W 83–67	18–8 (9–8)	23 – Krafcisin	9 – Krafcisin	8 – Arnold	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
March 1, 1980		Illinois	W 75–71	19–8 (10–8)	15 – Lester	11 – Boyle	5 – Tied	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
NCAA Tournament
March 6, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (12 E) Virginia Commonwealth First round	W 86–72	20–8	23 – Arnold	10 – Waite	8 – Lester	Greensboro Memorial Coliseum (6,865) Greensboro, NC
March 8, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (4 E) No. 19 North Carolina State Second Round	W 77–64	21–8	18 – Arnold	7 – Boyle	4 – Lester	Greensboro Memorial Coliseum (13,210) Greensboro, NC
March 14, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (1 E) No. 3 Syracuse East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 88–77^[2]	22–8	21 – Brookins	5 – Tied	7 – Lester	The Spectrum (17,569) Philadelphia, PA
March 16, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (3 E) No. 20 Georgetown East Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 81–80^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]	23–8	22 – Brookins	4 – Tied	9 – Lester	The Spectrum (15,981) Philadelphia, PA
March 22, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (2 MW) No. 4 Louisville National semifinal – Final Four	L 72–80^[7]	23–9	20 – Arnold	7 – Boyle	5 – Tied	Market Square Arena (16,637) Indianapolis, IN
March 24, 1980*	(5 E)	vs. (6 ME) No. 18 Purdue Third Place game	L 58–75	23–10	19 – Arnold	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Market Square Arena (16,637) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East, MW=Midwest, ME-Mideast. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Team players in the 1980 NBA draft

See also: 1980 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	10	Ronnie Lester	Portland Trail Blazers

^[8]

References

1. "1980 NCAA Final Four program". March 1980. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
2. "Iowa Gains Final With 88-77 Victory". The Washington Post. March 15, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
3. "Iowa Trips Georgetown, 81-80". The Washington Post. March 17, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
4. "Georgetown Beaten, 81-80; Iowa Topples Georgetown 'Craziest Season'". The New York Times. March 17, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
5. "Spectacular Hawkeyes head for Inday" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 17, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
6. "GLORY DAY FOR THE MEN OF I-O-WAY". Sports Illustrated. March 24, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
7. "UCLA, Louisville Move to NCAA Title Game". The Washington Post. March 23, 1980. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
8. "1980 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.