Recker averaged 15 points a game over two seasons at Indiana before transferring to Arizona, but he left coach Lute Olson's Wildcats after one semester because he wanted to be closer to his family in Washington and to his girlfriend, Kelly Craig.

Last July, Craig was partially paralyzed and Recker also was injured in a car crash near Durango, Colo. Craig is living in her hometown of Jasper, Ind.

"This decision to come to Iowa had nothing to do with basketball. It had everything to do with what happened this summer," Recker said during a news conference Tuesday before the Hawkeyes played host to Drake.

"It was something I thought long and hard about since the accident occurred. Right from the beginning it was on my mind," he said. "I just decided it was best for me in my personal life to get closer to my family."

Olson, a former Iowa coach, supported the move, Recker said.

"He showed a lot of support," he said. "He was great and terrific."

Recker is enrolled and practicing with his new team in Iowa City, but won't be eligible to play until the second semester of the 2000-2001 season unless he is successful in an appeal to the NCAA.

If the NCAA sides with Recker, who is still formulating his appeal, he would be able to play at the start of next season.

"Hopefully, the NCAA won't punish me and make me sit out another semester. It would be a tragic decision," he said. "I'm really hoping the NCAA looks at my situation. I hope the NCAA is pretty understanding."

Recker said the crash has given him a different perspective on life.

"I've changed tremendously. I think when you're 21 years old ... you almost think you're invincible," he said. "It makes you realize life can change in a heartbeat."

Recker, whose left wrist was broken in the crash, said his former Hoosiers teammates visited him in the hospital and he also received phone calls from NBA star Charles Barkley, former North Carolina coach Dean Smith and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

There's been no word from Indiana coach Bob Knight, he said.

"It's something I try not to think about," Recker said. "It's a situation where they've gone on and I've gone on.

"I just wish them the best -- except when they play Iowa."