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Iowa Hawkeyes
History
Mascot
The University of Iowa borrowed its athletic nickname from the state of
Iowa many years ago. The name Hawkeye was originally applied to a hero
in a fictional novel, The Last of the Mohicans, written by James
Fenimore Cooper. Author Cooper had the Delaware Indians bestow the name
on a white scout who lived and hunted with them.
In 1838, 12 years after the book was published, people in the territory
of Iowa acquired the nickname, chiefly through the efforts of Judge
David Rorer of Burlington and James G. Edwards of Fort Madison. Edwards,
editor of the Fort Madison Patriot, moved his newspaper to Burlington in
1843 and renamed it the Burlington Hawkeye. The two men continued their
campaign to popularize the name and were rewarded when territorial
officials gave it their formal approval.
The Hawkeye nickname gained a tangible symbol in 1948 when a cartoon
character, later to be named Herky the Hawk, was hatched. The creator
was Richard Spencer III, instructor of journalism. The impish hawk was
an immediate hit and he acquired a name through a statewide contest
staged by the UI Athletic Department. John Franklin, a Belle Plaine
alumnus, was the man who suggested Herky.
Since his birth 55 years ago, Herky has symbolized intercollegiate
athletics at the University of Iowa and epitomized university life. He
even donned a military uniform during the Korean Ware and became the
insignia of the 124th Fighting Squadron.
During the mid-1950s, Herky came to life at a football game as the Iowa
mascot with a black leather head and gold felt feathers. Since then,
Herky has become a familiar figures at intercollegiate athletic events
of all types on the UI campus.
Basketball Team Heads Down Under
The University of Iowa men's basketball team got an early start on a
season that doesn't begin until November with a 12-day trip to Australia
last month.
The team played five professional Australian basketball clubs, took in
the sights of Sydney and Brisbane and also went out to the Great Barrier
Reef on their first summer tour since 1998, when the Hawkeyes travelled
to Europe.
"The trip came at a good time for our team as we look forward to next
year," said Iowa coach Steve Alford. "We have 10 players who played on
the trip, which is a good number. Nick DeWitz and Pierre Pierce had
practiced with us, but they hadn't played in a game in nearly a year and
a half. It really helped both of them heading into the year."
The 10 members of the team who travelled down under included eight
letter winners from last season. The returning players who made the trip
are: Brody Boyd, Jared Reiner, Sean Sonderleiter, Kurt Spurgeon, Glen
Worley, Jack Brownlee, Greg Brunner and Jeff Horner. Pierce and Brownlee
redshirted during the 2003 season, while DeWitz joined the program for
the spring semester a year ago.
"It was a great opportunity for our student-athletes to travel to a
foreign country, experience the culture and the people. We had 10 days
of practice in advance of the trip, and we played five games against
very good, professional teams," Alford said. "This was my first trip as
coach and I really looked forward to it. As a player, I was able to
travel to China and Japan, among other places. For a lot of different
players, this could be a once in a lifetime situation."
Iowa came off the series with a 4-1 record, losing 133-124 to the
Australian National Basketball League Final Four team Wollongong Hawks
in its second game.
On the first game of the tour in Sydney, the Hawkeyes defeated the NBL
champion Sydney Kings 100-99 in overtime when senior center Jared Reiner
scored on a tip-in basket with just four seconds left on the clock.
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