Hawkeye hoops legends at heart of 2017 FryFest

Zach Berg
Press Citizen

FryFest, the annual celebration of the new Hawkeye football season, will be celebrating University of Iowa basketball legends and teams this year.

Members of the 1980 men's and 1993 women's Final Four teams and the 1987 men's basketball Elite 8 team and other basketball legends throughout the Hawkeye hoops world will all be a part of the festival that celebrates the kickoff to the Hawkeye football season.

Former Iowa coach Hayden Fry addresses the crowd before they made the attempt at the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously doing the "Hokey Pokey" during FryFest, Friday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Coralville, Iowa.

“It’s the 30th anniversary of the 1987 team, which of course is one of the best in our history, so we’re hoping to get those players back to town, as well. We figured that it was the best year to wrap it all in basketball," Monica Nieves, director of special events for the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said after a Tuesday morning news conference at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

“For a lot of years, the committee has been talking about basketball, and I think with the recent success of both the men’s and women’s team, it really inspired us to look back."

Former Iowa head coach Hayden Fry unveils his bronze statue at FRYfest at the Coralville Marriott on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016.

Slated for Sept. 1, the day before the Hawkeye football opening game in Iowa City, FryFest will take over much of Coralville's Iowa River Landing with a full day of events. The festival includes a litany of events inside the Coralville Mariott Hotel and Conference Center: the world's largest Hawkeye tradeshow, a pep rally and the outdoor High Porch Block Party.

Events will end with a concert by Arch Allies, a tribute band that performs the music of Bon Jovi, Journey, Boston, REO Speedwagon and Styx, and a fireworks show.

"That fireworks show was a huge hit and immediately become a new tradition," said Josh Schamberger, president of the convention and visitors bureau. "Complete with a tiger hawk firework at the end."

The festival also features the FryFest blood drive, organized by the UI DeGowin Blood Center, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Marriott. 

Former Iowa assistant coach Bruce Pearl, left, former Iowa men's basketball head coach Tom Davis, and former Iowa guard and three time NBA champion B.J. Armstrong signed autographs before Iowa's contest against Penn State on Saturday, February 4, 2012.

Celebrating basketball at the festival named after iconic Hawkeye football coach Hayden Fry and marking the new football season is a twist on the normally football-dominated festival. 

To help introduce the basketball theme, Hawkeye basketball legends Bobby Hansen, a member of the 1980 Final Four team and an NBA champion, and Lisa Bluder, the current women's basketball head coach, helped introduce the idea at the news conference.

"I'm a big fan of FryFest. I make sure to find Coach Fry whenever he's in town and shake his hand. It's important to make that connection with an Iowa icon," Bluder said. 

"Hopefully we'll get (former Hawkeye coach and Basketball Hall of Fame member) Lute Olson to come to town," Hansen said. 

Former University of Iowa basketball player Bobby Hansen stands next to current UI women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder at the FryFest news conference at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Tuesday, May 23, 2017.

FryFest has become a football season staple now that it has entered into its ninth year. In year's past, the festival has led to the renaming of First Avenue in Coralville to Hayden Fry Way, the unveiling of a Hayden Fry statue and also the breaking of the world record for the largest hokey pokey dance.

The festival is put on by a collaboration between the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the UI Athletics Department and the City of Coralville. MidWestOne Bank serves as the main sponsor of the one-day festival.

Information about which UI sports alums will attend the festival will be released at a later date, Nieves said.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg. 

For more information on FryFest, visit the festival's website at fryfest.com.