Toussaint Has Learned Plenty In Early Games

Iowa freshman guard has seen the good and the bad in just 13 games.

It’s not extra time, Joe Toussaint said.

“I’m in the gym all of the time,” the Iowa freshman guard said with a smile. “I wouldn’t consider it extra.”

Toussaint has seen the good and the bad during the first 13 games of his college career. All of it, he said, has been an education.

And it’s made him better, he said.

What was good? Well, there was the 13-point night against DePaul in the second game of career, the 13-point night against San Diego State on a neutral court in Las Vegas.

And then there was the zero-points-and-three-fouls-in-3 ½-minutes game in a win over Cincinnati at the United Center in Chicago right before Christmas, on a night when he was making his first career start.

What was coach Fran McCaffery’s advice after that game?

“Coach told me, ‘Don’t worry about it. Today just wasn’t your day,’” Toussaint said on Thursday.

His mother had similar words.

“She told me good games are going to happen, and bad games are going to happen,” Toussaint said. “It’s all part of the process.”

Toussaint has grasped that process.

Another roll and another shot for Joe Toussaint.@IowaHoops pic.twitter.com/cpaIWF5h2u

— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) November 22, 2019

“I think he’s improved a ton just in terms of what he’s learned,” said junior guard Connor McCaffery, Fran’s son. “He’s learned so much. He’s really a quick learner. He’s going to wreak havoc on the defensive end. He’s going to get steals. He’s going to make plays in the lane. That’s his thing, as everybody sees.

“He wants to learn. He wants to be good. So that’s why he’s not afraid to ask questions.”

“He brings it every day,” Fran McCaffery said. “He's an incredibly hard worker. But you're watching a guy who is gaining experience in every practice and every game, so he's obviously further along in the process now than he was at the beginning of the year.”

Toussaint has settled in — all part of the game experience, he said.

“The beginning of the season, I felt rushed,” he said. “I was trying to make an impact too fast. I felt like I was trying to do too much. Now I’m trying to let things come to me. Now I feel so much better.

“I know what Coach wants, I know what he doesn’t want. I just play the game now.”

Toussaint came back after that Cincinnati game to score six points in last Sunday’s win over Kennesaw State. He had seven assists and five steals in almost 22 minutes.

“I put that (Cincinnati) game behind me,” Toussaint said. “It’s in the past.”

“I think that was a tough game for him,” Connor McCaffery said. “He’s a freshman. That happens. There are games where you might not play well. You can’t lose your mind over it. It’s a thing.

“It seemed like he flushed it quick. And I was happy to see that.”

“I was impressed with how he came back,” Fran McCaffery said. “He was really good until the Cincinnati game, then he got in foul trouble and he didn't get the opportunity to come back in and get it straightened out because (senior guard) Bakari (Evelyn) played so well, we ran out of time. So he didn't hang his head, just kept grinding, came back, had three great workouts, had a terrific game the other day.”

The Hawkeyes get back into Big Ten play on Saturday against Penn State at The Palestra in Philadelphia. Toussaint, who is from the Bronx, is looking forward to getting to play close to home.

He’ll be tested by Penn State’s more experienced guards.

That, Fran McCaffery said, is just part of the education.

“Another step in terms of his progress,” McCaffery said, “and I think he's mentally tough enough to handle it.”