College basketball: Jordan Bohannon, brother of two ex-Badgers, picks Iowa – Madison.com
IOWA CITY — The Bohannon legacy has come full circle.
A decade after his oldest brother spurned Iowa for border rival Wisconsin, Jordan Bohannon chose the Hawkeyes’ basketball program on Friday morning.
Bohannon, a 6-foot-1 senior at Linn-Mar High School, became head coach Fran McCaffery’s third commit in the 2016 class. Iowa has one more scholarship available for next year.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play for Iowa,” Bohannon told The Gazette this morning. “I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play at Iowa. When I got the opportunity from Fran last night, I jumped on it quick.”
As a junior last year, Bohannon averaged 17.8 points a game and hit 45.3 percent from the floor. Nearly 60 percent of his shots came from 3-point range, and he sank 42.3 percent of his 3-pointers. He hit 63 of his 67 free-throw attempts (94 percent) and led Linn-Mar in rebounds and assists and tied for the team high in steals.
At Iowa, Bohannon likely will play the point. The Hawkeyes lose two point guards after this season in Mike Gesell and Anthony Clemmons. McCaffery’s son, Connor, is a junior point guard at West and has committed to Iowa in the 2017 class.
“I know he really wants me to play the one,” Bohannon said. “When Connor comes in we can switch off one and two like kind of like a combo. He’ll guard the bigger guard, and I’ll guard the smaller guard.”
Bohannon said McCaffery praised him for his defense.
“I think I’m really tough-minded,” Bohannon said. “I know I’m undersized; my knowledge makes up for it. I can get everybody in the right spot and make the right passes.”
Bohannon’s father, Gordy, quarterbacked the Iowa football team to the 1982 Rose Bowl. Bohannon’s three older brothers all played Division I college basketball. Jason Bohannon, who competed at Wisconsin from 2006 through 2010, ranks fourth in Badgers’ history in 3-point attempts and fifth in 3-point baskets. In 2010, he was 7 of 7 from 3-point range in a game against Indiana. He’s also in Wisconsin’s top 10 in minutes played and free-throw percentage. He entered last season No. 23 in all-time scoring at Wisconsin.
Zach Bohannon began his career at Air Force before transferring to Wisconsin. Twice he was academic all-Big Ten. Matt Bohannon is a senior guard at Northern Iowa. He ranks fourth in career 3-pointers and 3-point attempts and has scored 677 points for the Panthers.
“I hate to compare them because they all obviously had outstanding careers here, but they all were a little bit different,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. “Jason was a guy that was phenomenal. He could get to the basket, he could shoot it, he did so many things. They all have different attributes. I don’t know I’d call (Jordan) the best, but I know he works hard.
“I would say the one thing he does as well as any of his brothers is the way he shoots the ball. Very comparable to Jason in how well he shoots, and I think the parts he’s gotten a lot better at is putting it on the floor and getting to the rim and doing some of those things. I think he’s grown a lot defensively.”
Jordan Bohannon said he picked up traits from all of his brothers, from Zach’s on-court intelligence to Matt’s shooting prowess.
“I totally see myself as Jason,” Jordan Bohannon said. “I know I’m a little smaller so when I was younger, my dad started having me play point guard a little more. I think that really helped me in the long run.”
Other Iowa 2016 commitments include Dubuque Wahlert forward Cordell Pemsl and Spirit Lake center Ryan Kreiner.
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