It wouldn’t be wise to pigeonhole redshirt senior Ben Schwieger or Northern Iowa, especially in this magical last-hurrah season for the Waubonsie Valley graduate.
Schwieger is listed as a 6-foot-8, 220-pound guard/forward on the roster for the Panthers. It certainly reflects his versatility, but it doesn’t tell the full story.
The same holds true for a cursory glance at Northern Iowa, a team with a nicely above average overall record of 23-12 that includes an 11-9 showing in the Missouri Valley Conference.
There’s more to both.
“I think my physicality and confidence as a player has come a long way,” Schwieger said of his five-year college journey that began with three years at Loyola.
Schwieger then took advantage of the transfer portal to go to Northern Iowa.
His journey has been extended with the Panthers winning the Missouri Valley’s postseason tournament last week in St. Louis to earn the conference’s NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2016.
Seeded sixth in the nine-team field, Northern Iowa became the first team to win four games in four days in the 50-year history of the event. The Panthers will learn their first-round opponent Sunday.
Schwieger, meanwhile, has literally been here, there and everywhere for Northern Iowa.
“We’ve dealt with so many injuries and sickness,” he said. “I’ve been moved around a lot after starting as a two (shooting guard) or a three (small forward).
“For a short time, I even had to shift and play the one (point guard) for a couple games.”
Then, the Panthers lost starting power forward Tristan Smith, a 6-6, 235-pond graduate transfer, to injury for a month that included a five-game losing streak.
“That bumped me to the four (power forward),” Schwieger said. “And then last week, when we went small with our lineup, I went to the five and played center.
“I’ve had the chance to play each position. It’s definitely been interesting.”
It may help him in the long run if his dream of playing professionally comes to fruition.
Schweiger is averaging 9.9 points, which is fourth on a team with five players averaging between 9.1 and 13.7. He’s made 38% of his 3-pointers (35 of 93) and averages 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists, playing in all 35 games with 21 starts after settling into a sixth-man role.
“Coach liked having Tristan in at the four just to have a little more physicality and size,” Schwieger said. “He also thought I could bring a little offense to that second group, coming in to get the offense moving.”
Qualifying early earned the Panthers a welcomed 10-day layoff.
“It’s nice to have a little time to breathe,” Schwieger said after Northern Iowa knocked off the second and third seeds before topping fifth-seeded Illinois-Chicago 84-69 for the title.
It also brought back memories for Schwieger, who has earned his communications degree and is working on a master’s degree.
“My redshirt year at Loyola we made the tournament, went to Pittsburgh and lost to Ohio State in the first round so I was able to be a part of it,” Schwieger said. “I enjoyed my time there, but I was looking for an opportunity to have more of an impact on winning.
“There’s a lot of chaos and craziness with the portal today, but a lot of good can come out of it.”
The MVC Tournament win didn’t surprise coach Ben Jacobson or his players, who were picked to finish second in the conference’s preseason coaches and media poll.
“We knew we had a good team for a long time,” Jacobson said.
Regular-season champion Belmont (26-6) also was upset by ninth-seeded Drake 100-79 in the quarterfinals.
“Every team in this league, top to bottom, can play,” Schwieger said. “A lot of games go down to the wire. Knowing nobody had ever won four games in four days just gave us a little extra fire.”
