IOWA CITY -- Riley Mulvey's three years at Iowa haven't exactly gone to plan.
After the 6'10", 230-pound big graduated early from St. Tomas More in Connecticut, he had hopes of getting consistent playing time early on in his career with the Hawkeyes. There were some serious adjustments that needed to be made first.
Without a second thought, Mulvey told the media on Monday that the speed of the game in the Big Ten has been the toughest change for him at this level.
"In the summer whenever we'd play pickup or anything, I was just gassed," he lamented. "It was just like 'Oh man, I can't believe we're doing this.' It's just sprinting, sprinting, sprinting for the four and five man."
He wasn't able to just post up in the paint offensively and be bigger than everyone else on the defensive side of the floor.
"You've got to get to the rim ahead of everybody, and then you've got to get back on defense after going for an offensive rebound," he said. "It's just so much running."
After two years of minimal contribution (4.5 minutes per game and less than one point per contest), Mulvey took a redshirt, sitting on the sideline for the entirety of his third year with the program.
"Being a redshirt, I was almost trying to be a player-coach on the team," he said. "That was kind of my goal last year -- to help the team while being on scout team and trying to make everyone better. I think doing that the entire last year with pure focus on it has made me so much more confident in every part of my game."
Over that time frame, Mulvey was tasked with emulating some of the best players in the Big Ten -- and in the country -- like Zach Edey, Kel'el Ware, Clifford Omoruyi and others.
"It was legitimately just having the ball in my hands," he said. "The five man who I was going to be had the ball a lot. So, it was a lot of getting used to having to score on a double-team, having to try to go through a bunch of defenders and score, get my own rebound. I think that really helped with my development."
This season, he hopes to be able to contribute more defensively as well.
"I want to be able to guard people on the perimeter and not be a liability when it comes to that," Mulvey said. "So, if I have the opportunity to get in, I want to show that. I think that'll be the main selling point -- I want playing time, so I'm going to defend better."
Fran McCaffery, who brought Mulvey in as part of the 2021 recruiting class, has seen improvement from the former three-star recruit, but wants more from him this season.
"He just keeps getting better," McCaffery said. "As part of the scout team last year -- he did a great job with that. He's worked hard in the weight room, and he's an athlete. With him, it's about continuing to be consistent. He's really good a lot of the time, but he's working on his consistency."
