Brown: A Tribute to Jordan Bohannon

Remembering Top Moments from a Special Hawkeye Career

IOWA CITY, Iowa - There weren’t many people in the gym at Ankeny High School on a snowy Tuesday night in January of 2016.

I was there for two reasons. I wanted to interview Gordy Bohannon for a book project I was working on. And I wanted to see his youngest son, Jordan, play basketball in person for the first time.

Jordan, a star senior guard at Linn-Mar, had already signed a letter of intent with Iowa. Many experts had been quick to criticize Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery for taking him. But McCaffery Knew Bohannon could shoot. He was a competitor. And he didn’t back down. Jordan accepted the Hawkeyes’ scholarship offer in August of 2015, and signed the following November. Linn-Mar trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half of that Ankeny game, a Top 10 duel. Bohannon hit his last three shots of the second quarter to shave the halftime deficit to six, then added 16 second-half points. That included a corner 3-pointer with just under a minute remaining that forced overtime. He made six straight free throws in the extra session to finish with 37 points in Linn-Mar’s 78-68 victory.

Bohannon brought that clutch gene with him to Iowa. It has made him the most prolific 3-point shooter in Big Ten history, and the most productive assist man in Iowa history. A shooter and a passer rarely reside inside the same uniform.

McCaffery touched on both of those skillsets when he signed Bohannon back in 2015. “I’ve been watching Jordan since the eighth grade,“ McCaffery said. “I’ve always been impressed with his overall skill set, mental toughness, basketball intellect and his ability to play well late in games. He has more than enough speed, he makes shots, makes plays, is a terrific passer, is of the perfect attack mentality, and he’s a perfect fit for our style of play.” Bohannon wore uniform No. 11 at Linn-Mar, the same number Gordy wore playing quarterback for Hayden Fry and the Hawkeyes. Jordan switched to No. 3 in college. And then he went out and set history wearing it.

He passed Ohio State’s Jon Diebler as the Big Ten’s all-time leader with his 375th triple early in last week’s victory over Alabama State. Next up? Duke’s J.J. Reddick has the most 3-pointers at a Power Five school, with 457. Bohannon has 379 heading into Friday’s game against Portland State.

Critics are still chasing Bohannon’s tail, saying that he only got there because he’s playing his sixth season. He played just 10 games in 2019-20 because of a hip injury that required surgery. He also gutted out the entire 2018-19 season with another hip injury that also required surgery. He then elected to take advantage of an extra season granted by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It took Bohannon, Iowa’s 2016 Mr. Basketball, 147 games to pass Diebler, Ohio’s 2007 Mr. Basketball, who played in 144 games. But Diebler actually played more, logging 4,687 Division I minutes compared to Bohannon’s 4,383.

Bohannon currently has a school-record 645 assists, and is eighth in career points with 1,693. He also shares the school record for consecutive made free throws with 33. Chris Street got there first, in a game against Duke on Jan. 16, 1993. Street died in an automobile accident three days later, so his record remains eternally active.

In the ultimate nod to history, Bohannon intentionally missed a free throw that would have given him the record against Northwestern on Feb. 25, 2018.

“I know where the record deserves to stand, and that’s in Chris’s name,” Bohannon said after the game.

Jordan has never been afraid to do what he thinks is right. And because of that, he’s often a social media lightning rod because he’s never been afraid to speak his mind. Like in December of 2019, when he signed his shoes (“Thanks for the Memz”) and left them on the Hilton Coliseum floor after an 84-68 victory over the Cyclones. He figured it was his last game at Iowa State. Now he’ll play the Dec. 9 game against the host Cyclones with a target on his back. Something tells me he relishes the opportunity.

But the essence of Bohannon’s career can be found in that McCaffey quote on signing day in 2015, when he talked about Bohannon’s “ability to play well late in games.” He’s been Mr. Clutch since his freshman season. I went through box scores of games I remember over Jordan’s career. At the risk of leaving an important moment out, here’s his shining moments.

Six Days Down the Stretch

Two rated foes, both on the road. Two 2017 victories. Iowa defeated No. 24 Maryland on Feb. 25, 83-68, and No. 22 Wisconsin on March 2, 59-57.

Bohannon made four of five 3-pointers in the first half at Maryland, giving Iowa a 47-40 halftime lead. The Terrapins’ Kevin Huerter opened the second half with a triple, and the crowd amped up the comeback machine. Bohannon killed it in a hurry.

He hit a pair of 3-pointers in a three-possession flurry 51/2 minutes into the second half. Maryland never cut the deficit under double figures after that. Bohnnon finished the game with 24 points, and made eight of 10 threes.

Then came a trip to the Kohl Center in Madison, a place Iowa hadn’t won at since 2011. Trailing, 57-56, McCaffery designed a play for Peter Jok, the Big Ten’s leading scorer. Jok was a touch strong on the shot, but Cordell Pemsl dug out the offensive rebound and fired it to Bohannon behind the 3-point line on the left wing. Swish, with :09 to go. Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig missed a jumper, Iowa’s Nicholas Baer got the rebound and the Bohannon family celebrated behind the Iowa bench. That included his brothers, Jason and Zach, who both played for the Badgers.

Iowa finished the game with a 14-5 run. Bohannon scored five of the last seven. New York, New York

Iowa faced a heavily favored Michigan team in a second-round game of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was not a vintage shooting day for Bohannon. He was just three of 11 from 3 and three for 14 overall.

But there was this. Iow trailed, 67-64, when Bohannon got the ball at the top of the key. He took a dribble left, then a hard dribble to the right, rose up and buried the 3 with :16 to go. Michigan failed to score and the game headed to overtime. The Wolverines won, 77-71, but Bohannon left the Big Apple with a moment to remember.

From the Jaws of Defeat

No. 20 Iowa looked dead in the water. Northwestern had a 15-point lead in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 10, 2019, and just 4:30 remained. The deficit was still 11 with 2:04 to go. Joe Wieskamp and Bohannon, who had failed to make a 3 in Iowa’s 10-point victory at Northwestern on Jan. 9, both made 3s and then added fast-break baskets to give the Hawkeyes momentum. After Isaiah Moss cut the deficit to 78-77, Northwestern’s Vic Law made one of two free throws.

Connor McCaffery in-bounded the ball in front of the Iowa bench and found a cutting Bohannon, who took a hard dribble right and fired a fall away 3 from the top of the key that won the game with :0.03 on the clock.

Indiana, My Indiana

My personal favorite Bohannon game came in Iowa City on Feb. 22, 2019, when he rallied the Hawkeyes for an improbable 76-70 overtime victory against Indiana.

But first the hor dourves. Iowa won at Indiana 15 days earlier, 77-72. Iowa had a 46-36 lead at halftime in Bloomington. The Hoosiers had crawled within 66-63 with 1:43 to go. But then Bohannon accounted for Iowa’s last 11 points of the game - back-to-back 3s and five free throws in six attempts.

He scored 19 of his 25 points the second half, finished with five 3s in eight attempts and had six assists to no turnovers.

Iowa was ranked 21st and favored in the rematch, but the Hoosiers were in control for most of the game. And then Bohannon went off with what veteran Indiana play-by-play radio man Don Fischer called “one of the greatest offensive performances of shooting that I’ve ever seen.” A Bohannon 3 with :28 remaining in regulation tied the game, 63-63.

“Great execution and a big shot by a great player,” McCaffery said.

Indiana’s Romeo Langford missed a 3 for the win, Bohannon tracked down the rebound and the game headed to overtime.

With the game tied, 65-65, Bohanon missed a 3. Luka Garza got the offensive rebound and fired it back to Bohannon, whose second-chance triple was good with 2:47 to go. It was tied again, 68-68, when good fortune looked down on Iowa. Bohannon’s entry pass to Tyler Cook was batted away, and came right back to Bohannon. He fired from 3 and made it with 2:01 to go.

And then, with Iowa hanging on to a 72-70 advantage, Bohannon fired in the clincher from 3 with :20 remaining.

“He did it to Northwestern, and then he did a number on the Hoosiers tonight,” said Dave Revsine of the Big Ten Network.

Bohannon’s already put his mark on the 2021-22 season by becoming the Big Ten’s 3-point king. And something tells me we haven’t heard the last of him.