Brad Banks has surprised a lot of people in his first year as Iowa's starting quarterback, but perhaps nobody has been more shocked than those at Nike and the Hawkeye licensing department.

When the two sides sat down last January to decide which number they would feature on Iowa's replica football jerseys for this season, they unanimously agreed on No. 34, the number of tailback Aaron Greving. Banks' No. 7, in fact, wasn't even considered.

	Like Iowa's opponents, Hawkeyes fans can't get ahold of quarterback Brad Banks' jersey.

Eleven months later, Banks is arguably the school's most recognized player since quarterback Chuck Long. In 1985, Long finished second to Bo Jackson in the closest Heisman trophy vote ever. Banks is a likely Heisman finalist this year -- yet his jersey is nowhere to be found.

And Greving? He quit the team.

Oops.

"You know what I tell people? Go buy Aaron Greving (jerseys)," said Dale Arens, Iowa's licensing director. "Three plus four equals seven; the seven is still on there."

Much like Super Bowl XXXVI presented Patriots fans their first opportunity to purchase Tom Brady jerseys last season, Iowa director of marketing Rick Klatt said Iowa fans may have the chance to buy Banks' No. 7 jersey at the Hawkeyes' bowl game.

Until then, collectors will have to pay a premium for the few Banks collectibles that have made their way to Internet auctioneer eBay. One item, an authentic autographed football, soared to $125 after just two days on the site.

But those in the Iowa marketing department aren't hanging their heads. They'll take an 11-1 season with the wrong jersey in stores over the 1-10 season the team struggled through in 1999. They're confident that those who can't find Banks' No. 7 will spend that money on other Hawkeye apparel. In addition, the revenue produced from apparel sales for the team's expected trip to the Rose Bowl will dwarf what the school would have made from having Banks' jersey on store shelves throughout the regular season.

"Anybody in retail can relate to this," said Arens, who previously worked in purchasing for the Hawk Shop, the state's largest retailer of Iowa apparel. "It's sort of a put-up-or-shut-up. Obviously we would have sold a lot (of Banks jerseys), but that money is going into other products."

The decison of which jersey number to feature each season isn't an easy one. Some of the more popular schools, such as Miami and Notre Dame, often choose more than one number. But that's rare.

And because apparel suppliers like Nike and Reebok produce so many jerseys for so many different teams, often overseas, schools are required to decide on that one number in January or February. It's often an educated roll of the dice.

For Iowa, Greving seemed like the perfect choice. He rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown and earned MVP honors in the Alamo Bowl. Heading into spring practice, he was the team's No. 1 tailback and one of its most popular players. Banks, a seldom-used backup during the 2001 season, wasn't even part of the conversation.

"With Aaron, heck, if you're talking April 2002, he is the guy," Klatt said. "He basically won the Alamo Bowl for us. It was a no-brainer."

But Greving missed the first two games of the season with an ankle injury and eventually left the team on Oct. 25 to get a "break from football." Now, his No. 34 jerseys are gathering dust in stores and warehouses throughout the state.

"I'm glad I don't have to take the calls as one of those retailers," Arens said. "But if you ask me, there's no bad in this whole story. The fact that the wrong jersey is in the marketplace is what makes college athletics great. You truly just never know."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn3.com.