Filip Rebraca Thriving in Second Iowa Season

Filip Rebraca prepared for what he called the “gauntlet” of Big Ten big men by dominating the 5-foot-8ers at the North Liberty Recreation Center.

The Iowa forward wasn’t going to find a Hunter Dickinson or Trayce Jackson-Davis on the pickup courts, so he tuned up against smaller players.

“So the level of competition wasn’t the greatest last summer,” Rebraca said on Wednesday. “But it slowly built up my skills and techniques, and that’s given me the confidence.”

It’s paid off for Rebraca, who is averaging 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds in what he says is his best season in college basketball, especially considering the level of competition he’s facing after three seasons at North Dakota.

“I always say this — it was in there,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “He had already proven it at the collegiate level. He just didn't prove it in the Big Ten from an offensive standpoint.”

Rebraca averaged 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Hawkeyes last season.

“From a defensive and rebounding standpoint, from an execution and basketball IQ standpoint, he was terrific last year,” McCaffery said. “There's no way we win 26 games without him in the starting lineup.

“I think going through the league and having another summer with us, another couple cycles in the weight room, from his confidence and understanding of what this level is standpoint, he has it figured out.”

“I feel like last year I didn’t have to do it, but I also didn’t feel like my confidence was there to do it,” Rebraca said. “And so that’s what I’ve been talking about all summer, all year, it’s mostly up here. That’s what I’ve switched up.

“You have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. I’ve been uncomfortable all last year. But then you also have to do stuff that pushes yourself, slowly build your confidence.”

McCaffery considers Rebraca one of the Hawkeyes’ leaders.

“The only way you earn respect is by how hard you play,” McCaffery said. “Now, at some level you have to be somewhat productive, but you can be a little less productive if you're a worker and you're a character guy every minute of every day, which he is.

But he also has a real good sense when he's communicating at the 5-spot that he's communicating accurate information. We talk about that all the time. Don't be out there running your mouth if you're not 100 percent sure what you're saying and the information you're giving to your teammates is what we want. He was good last year, but he was probably quieter as he's trying to figure out where he's supposed to go. If you're going to tell everybody elsewhere to go, you'd better know where you're supposed to go.”

Rebraca has played a team-high 504 minutes this season, and is coming off a 40-minute game at Rutgers.

“I feel like every morning I wake up, there’s a new spot that hurts,” Rebraca said, smiling. “After Indiana, it was my right shoulder. After Rutgers, it was my left shoulder. Now they both hurt. I wake up every morning, and there’s a new spot that’s sore. You just have to battle through it. That’s where my Serbian toughness comes in.”

Rebraca thinks he feels better as a game goes on.

“It’s kind of weird,” he said. “It’s the hardest during the first eight minutes, until my second wind hits. Because the first eight minutes, I’m like, ‘Please, I need that first media timeout to come.”

Rebraca will face Dickinson in Thursday’s game against Michigan at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, completing a three-game run against Indiana’s Jackson-Davis and Rutgers’ Cliff Omoruyi.

“You can’t give him any angles,” Rebraca said. “But what’s hard is, he’s going to find the angles. He’s an amazing player with an amazing touch at that size.”

Rebraca might get a break from the Big Ten’s best bigs after this.

“This is the last guy in the gauntlet,” he said.