A special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast as we roll out our huge hoops preview week series. We are joined by Iowa men's basketball assistant coach Matt Gatens.

We talk to Gatens about the trip overseas this summer and how it helped in the development of this year's team and if there were any players who have surprised him in their development. Then we go down the roster and discuss Ben Krikke, Josh Dix, Payton and Pryce Sandfort, Ladji Dembele and his improvement, and Brock Harding and Owen Freeman.

We also talk about how this team doesn't have star, but it has a lot of guys who on any given night could be their leading scorer. Also how the team is motivated by some of the slights from the national media heading into the season.