Iowa basketball's Alvaro Folgueiras shows off vibrant personality in March Madness
· Yahoo Sports
HOUSTON — After Iowa basketball knocked off 1-seed Florida in the round of 32, Tavion Banks was asked whether he would vote for Ben McCollum if he ran for governor of Iowa.
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“Hell, yeah,” Banks said.
Bennett Stirtz agreed.
“I will vote for you,” said Alvaro Folgueiras, a product of Málaga, Spain. “I don’t know the other guys (running). First of all, I’m just an immigrant. I don’t have a vote.”
McCollum let out a laugh.
“That’s first of all,” Folgueiras continued. “But, yeah, I will vote for my coach. I can say that.”
Folgueiras has become somewhat of a folk hero during Iowa basketball’s run to the Elite Eight. He hit the game-winning 3-pointer to take down the Gators. He delivered timely buckets in crunch time against rival Nebraska in the Sweet 16.
After an up-and-down regular season, Folgueiras has blossomed during the NCAA Tournament. Over the last three games, he has averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest while shooting 12-of-20 from the field, 5-of-12 from deep and 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
Alongside his versatile game, there is a vibrant personality.
“One of a kind,” said Cooper Koch.
“Can I say crazy?” said Tate Sage. “I’m going to say crazy, energetic. I love him. That’s something I really noticed about Al is like when he gets his people, he loves his people.”
“He’s a very bubbly person,” said Peyton McCollum. “He’s just not afraid to be himself, I would say.”
Folgueiras has shown up barefoot to at least one post-game press conference this season. He enjoys the musical artist Bruno Mars. If you have seen him swing a golf club, it’s, well… let Peyton McCollum explain.
“His swing?” McCollum said. “What you’d think of a swing of a person that’s never played golf before. Probably around there.”
Brendan Hausen and Folgueiras, the two Iowa transfers who didn't come from Drake last offseason, were roommates this summer.
“I remember I showed up and it was instantly like we had known each other forever,” Hausen said. “Like, dude did not care. Didn’t care what I thought, didn’t care what anyone thought. Just made you laugh. I remember him putting on a Los Angeles Lakers hat, some weird sunglasses and wearing them out in public like he just didn’t care. He’s really just the life of the party. Such a fun dude. He’ll always make you smile.”
But there was a problem Hausen had to address.
“The first time I met him, it was the middle of summer and it was like 80 degrees in our apartment and I was like, 'Yeah, this is not going to be OK,'” Hausen said. “Now he’s roommates with Joey Matteoni. Apparently, it's always still hot in the apartment.”
Let’s check fact check that with Matteoni.
“Before I said anything, seriously, like 73, 74 (degrees),” Matteoni said. “We keep it at 70. But then his room’s like super hot, and I’ve got like three fans going on in my room.”
Folgueiras explained his reasoning.
“Because I get sick,” he said. “My nose — it tends to get watery.”
“In Spain, we don’t use AC (air conditioning), and Americans love it way too much.”
Another sign of his origins: Folgueiras doesn’t like ice cubes in water.
“He’ll literally take it out with his hands,” Matteoni said.
“The water is already too cold,” Folgueiras said. “You just don’t need ice on it. And then some bars are too smart about it, or they think that I’m dumb. I ordered a lemonade, and they put a lot of ice and no lemonade. So at the end of the day, just give me my lemonade. Keep the ice water for yourself. That’s it.”
Folgueiras has been known to make noises without warning during practice.
“Just the random yelling at practice,” said Cam Manyawu. “Just getting hype over things. We’ll just be doing a drill and he’ll all of a sudden kind of get hype, and it’ll get the whole team kind of going in practice.”
Peyton McCollum said this: “In practice, when we’re going through walk through and someone answers a question correctly, every once and while he’ll just like, ‘Yaaaaaaaahhhhh.’ (He'll) Just like start screaming because someone got it right. Just random things like that, where he just like blurts out of the blue. I just think it’s hilarious.”
Folgueiras’ English is good enough to communicate, but not as smooth as a native speaker. If the head coach has to make sure that Folgueiras understands what is being conveyed, the Spaniard has a saying:
“In practice, he’s like, ‘Guys, I’m foreign. I’m not dumb,’” Hausen said.
In February, Folgueiras scored a season-high 20 points against Ohio State with his brother, “Nacho,” in attendance. Teammate Kael Combs suggested that “Nacho” stay for a few more games.
Folgueiras’ response: “He eats a lot. I don’t know if I can pay for his food.”
“Those two together, boy, they’re a different breed,” Ben McCollum said of the brothers after the win over Ohio State. “He can be a little distraction for Al every once in a while. I’m not sure who the mature one is in the bunch. But they’re so fun together. They’ve got a lot of life, a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm for people. So they’re super fun.”
Ahead of Iowa’s matchup with Illinois in the Elite Eight, Folgueiras was asked to describe his personality. He pushed back on the question, which actually ended up revealing his personality pretty well.
“(That’s something) I’ll probably tell my therapist after an hour of talking,” Folgueiras said.
Earlier this season, Iowa basketball’s social media team put out a video where players were asked which of their teammates they would want to be for a day and why. A lot of players answered by saying Bennett Stirtz.
But when it got to Folgueiras, he said: “I’m pretty comfortable being myself.”
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Alvaro Folgueiras showcasing vibrant personality during March Madness