A flood of memories came rushing back last weekend when they honored the 1986-87 Iowa men’s basketball team that nearly went to the NCAA Final Four.

You don’t need much reminding that the Hawkeyes that March blew an 18-point lead to Nevada-Las Vegas and lost, 84-81, in the West Regional final in Seattle. That result was as painful to Hawkeye fans as the season and tournament trail were unforgettable.

At the first- and second-round site in Tucson, Iowa whipped Santa Clara and barely survived a Texas-El  Paso team coached by colorful Don Haskins and led by Tim Hardaway. Lute Olson had his Arizona team in that regional, led by Sean Elliott. Marist made it with 7-footer Rik Smits. Pittsburgh had NBA first-rounders in Charles Smith and Jerome Lane. Oklahoma featured Harvey Grant and Stacey King.

The Hawkeyes went to Seattle to face Oklahoma, where they survived a memorable overtime game, thanks to Kevin Gamble’s basket with one second left.

During halftime of the regional final against UNLV, many in the Iowa media delegation were making travel plans to the Final Four in New Orleans. Instead, a couple hours later, we were deciding whether to take the red eye back to Cedar Rapids or wait until the next morning.

The Metro area had three players in the 1987 NCAA Tournament

Al Lorenzen, a reserve on the 1987 Iowa team out of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, was by far the most decorated.  Lorenzen, who committed to the Hawkeyes before his junior season in high school, was a PARADE Magazine All-America and ranked the No. 4 prep player in the country in 1984. Other PARADE All-Americans that year included Danny Manning, Chris Washburn, Gary Grant and Delray Brooks.

Lorenzen played in 118 games for the Hawkeyes, accumulating 862 points and 483 rebounds. He made six of seven shots in the ’87 NCAA tournament.

Linn-Mar products Scott and John Anderson (no relation) were at Ohio State at the time. Both played in the ’87 NCAA tournament, where the Buckeyes beat Kentucky in the first round of the Southeast Regional before losing to Georgetown.

Ohio State dealt Iowa one of its losses in a 30-5 season. The Buckeyes won at Iowa City in January, 80-76, but the Hawkeyes returned the favor in Columbus by winning, 82-80.

Both Andersons had solid careers in Columbus. John, at 6-10, was a starter that year while Scott contributed off the bench. Both became four-year Ohio State letterwinners, John serving as a co-captain in 1988.

Many people rightfully marvel at the number of major-college players the Metro area has produced in recent years, but the mid-1980s weren’t too bad.

There was Lorenzen and the Andersons at the forefront. Dick Breitbach of Regis went to the NCAA tournament in 1988 with Iowa State. Linn-Mar had a Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1983 with Tod Lumsden. Bob Driscoll was a solid basketball player at Jefferson, but distinguished himself in a three-year career with Northwestern football as a tight end. One of Lorenzen’s teammates, Tim Batterson, played linebacker at Iowa.

It also was a time that future Hawkeye and NBA player Matt Bullard was starring at West Des Moines Valley, and Creighton Coach Greg McDermott was making all-state numbers at Cascade, and Mike Flagg was brilliant as a football and basketball player at Cedar Falls before playing tight end at Iowa.

The 1980s may or may not have been the golden era of Metro area and college basketball but it certainly had its share of memories.

(Mark Dukes is former sports editor of the Cedar Rapid Gazette. He is co-host of The Gym Class radio show weekdays from 3-4 p.m. on KGYM-AM 1600 and FM-106.3.)