| | IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Luke Recker is now officially a member of
the Iowa basketball team.
Recker, who transferred from Arizona, has enrolled at Iowa for
the second semester and practiced with the Hawkeyes for the first
time Monday, coach Steve Alford said.
Alford said he was looking forward to having the former Indiana
player in practice.
"I think that's going to enhance our practices," he said.
Recker, a 6-foot-6 swingman, left Arizona after just one
semester and did not play there. When he announced he was
transferring in early December, Recker said he wanted to be closer
to his family and to his girlfriend, Kelly Craig, who was left
partially paralyzed by a traffic accident near Durango, Colo., in
July.
His father, Clair Recker, lives in Washington, Iowa, which is
about 35 miles south of Iowa City.
Under NCAA transfer rules, Recker would not be eligible to play
at Iowa until January 2001. Recker said recently he was looking
into filing an appeal with the NCAA seeking to become eligible at
the start of the 2000-2001 season next November.
Recker averaged 14.8 points a game in his two seasons at
Indiana. He left there last spring, saying he was unhappy over how
he was developing as a player.
Alford said Recker will help in practice because the reserves
who work against the regulars don't have much experience. Recker
will make that group more competitive, the Iowa coach said.
"It's hard for us to emulate things in practice," Alford said.
"Until, through recruiting, you get the program to where you're
10, 11, 12 deep and deep with experience, it's hard to get a gauge
on how much you're improving in practice."
Kentucky transfer Ryan Hogan also is practicing with the
Hawkeyes. He'll be eligible at the start of next season.
Recker, who'll meet with the news media Tuesday night before
Iowa's game with Drake, took part in the team's shootaround Monday
morning and joined in his first full-fledged practice in the
afternoon, Alford said.
"We'll start our two-on-two league from then -- Hogan and Recker
versus Lansing and myself," Alford said, referring to assistant
coach Greg Lansing. "We're excited to get this going." | |
ALSO SEE
Recker asking NCAA to let him play for Iowa before 2001
|
