By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The media was allowed to watch about 30 minutes of the Iowa men’s basketball team’s practice on Thursday in the practice facility at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

To say that the mood was intense would be an understatement.

The calendar said June 19, but it felt more like January or February with the way in which the Iowa players were defending.

From star point guard Bennett Stirtz down to walk-on guards Jacob Koch and Peyton McCollum, the Iowa players, whether it be one-on-one, three-on-three or five-on-five, gave maximum effort on defense.

They treated each defensive drill as if it could be their last if they didn’t give every last bit of energy they had on defense.

And remember, this was just one practice in June.

First-year Iowa head coach Ben McCollum was quick to praise anything good that he saw on defense, and that was just his way of setting the tone and showing that there truly is a new sheriff in town for men’s basketball.

“We emphasize defense a lot,” redshirt freshman forward Cooper Koch said after Thursday’s practice. “We work on it every day.

“I know we didn’t work that much on it last year, so it feels like a lot to me. But these guys are saying it’s not that much right now. So, I can’t wait until the season when we work on it a lot more.”

Koch has a unique perspective as the only holdover on scholarship from the Fran McCaffery coaching era, which ended in mid-March when he was fired as head coach after 15 seasons.

Fran McCaffery won a lot of games as the Hawk head over the previous 15 seasons, more than anyone else in program history.

His teams played offense at a frenetic pace and almost always were ranked at or near the top of the Big Ten in scoring.

But his teams also struggled to defend, especially in transition, and that was hard to overcome.

Cooper Koch wasn’t being critical of Iowa’s defense under Fran McCaffery.

He was just pointing out that things are different now under Ben McCollum, who led Drake to a 31-4 record this past season and to its first NCAA Tournament win since 1971.

McCollum’s emphasis on defense apparently starts in the weight room based on what Koch said when asked what the biggest difference is between the new coaching staff and the previous one.

“I would say the weight room,” Koch said. “We get after it in the weight room; we’re screaming and hollering. We’re in there for an hour, but we get about an hour-thirty, an hour-forty-five of work stuff.”

The 6-foot-8 Koch only appeared in 10 games last season season due to a medical issue.

He was granted a medical redshirt and now the son of former Iowa forward J.R. Koch said he feels fine and is eager to contribute under a new head coach.

“I had some minor issues with my lung,” Cooper Koch said. “But I’m back at it now and I’m looking forward to being here.”

Ben McCollum and Fran McCaffery are proof that different coaching styles can be successful.

McCollum’s teams don’t normally play as up tempo on offense as Fran McCaffery’s teams do.

But a lot also depends on individual matchups.

McCollum said at his introductory press conference that his teams will play fast on offense if the circumstances call for it, whereas Fran McCaffery’s teams almost always played fast on offense.

Playing fast on offense is just in Fran McCaffery’s DNA, much like playing all out on defense is in McCollum’s DNA.

“Defense is what wins championships and you can see it starting to come together a little bit,” said senior guard Brendan Hausen, who played previously for Kansas State and Villanova. “The guys are really getting after it.

“But yeah, defense is everything here.”

In addition to defense, of course, the 6-4 Hausen was brought in to be a force from 3-point range where his range stretches to the logo much like former Hawkeye Caitlin Clark.

Hausen didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice due to what he said was a bone bruise.

Instead, he watched as his new teammates ran drills that required hustle, focus and communication on defense combined with patience and precision on offense.

One drill matched three players on offense against three players on defense with no dribbling allowed.

“It’s ball pressure that we’re working on for defense,” Hausen said. “Offense, it’s moving without the ball and setting screens and getting open, physicality and just being tough.”

Hausen is eager to play alongside the 6-4 Stirtz in the backcourt.

Stirtz was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year this past season. He also played his first two seasons in college for McCollum at Northwest Missouri State.

“I think we’re going to help each other a lot,” Hausen said of Stirtz. “He’s definitely going to help me because he’s the best point guard in the country. But I hope I can take some pressure off of him as well.”

Stirtz is among six former Drake players that followed McCollum to Iowa.

Forward Tavion Banks is also part of that group as the 6-7 forward was named the Missouri Valley Conference Sixth-Man of the Year last season.

His name is familiar to Hawkeye fans, who are reminded of former Iowa star running back Tavian Banks.

Tavion Banks the basketball player spells his first name differently and plays a different sport, but he started hearing about Tavian Banks the former Hawkeye football star while playing for Drake last season.

“When I was at Drake a lot of people asked me if I was his son,” Tavion Banks said Thursday. “I didn’t know who this was at first. And then I looked it up after I got done talking about it, and I was like, oh. I didn’t even know that. It’s pretty crazy.”