By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Carter Kingsbury’s role with Iowa’s men’s basketball team has expanded just a bit.

And he’s getting some money to go with it.

Kingsbury, a walk-on for his first three seasons, is on scholarship this season — a welcome change, he said.

“It honestly doesn’t change a ton within practices, and whether or not I’m going to play,” Kingsbury said of his spot in Iowa’s rotation. “But the financial side of it is obviously very nice. I’m sure my family was more happy about it than I was. It shows what hard work can do. And I was proud of myself for getting the scholarship.”

Kingsbury, who played in 13 games over the last two seasons after redshirting as a freshman, has played in seven games this season, averaging seven minutes in those games.

As Iowa has been playing most of the season with a shorter bench because of injuries, Kingsbury has played during key points of games — he played 5 ½ minutes in the first half of the Hawkeyes’ 95-88 win over Utah on Saturday, and got almost 11 ½ minutes in the 104-57 win over New Orleans on December 15.

Kingsbury, at 6-foot-5, is someone coach Fran McCaffery has said he can plug into different positions.

“I’m just kind of doing whatever Coach needs, whether we’re in foul trouble or just need (someone) for (someone) having an off-night,” Kingsbury said. “We’ve got a ton of guys, we’re a really deep team with a bunch of scorers, so that’s nice. Just kind of being that guy that can do whatever’s needed on a given night.”

Kingsbury, the son of former Hawkeye Chris Kingsbury, came to Iowa with the reputation of being a scorer. He scored 1,771 points in his career at Ponca (Neb.) High School, averaging 21.3 points as a senior.

He also played at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, which gives him an unusual distinction.

“It was high school classes again,” he said. “So actually, I got a second high school diploma. So I have two. Not sure what that does mean, but the classes were fine. Really good people there.”

Kingsbury has a scholarship offer to play at NCAA Division II school Winona State out of high school, but decided to go to Brewster Academy. He said he only played in seven games there — the rest of the basketball time was spent in intrasquad scrimmages.

“I think we had 13 or so Division I guys there,” Kingsbury said. “So practices were very competitive.”

Needing to find a college for his son, Chris Kingsbury reached out to former Iowa teammate Jess Settles, who got him in touch with McCaffery.

“We kind of talked and decided (Iowa) would be the best fit,” Carter Kingsbury said.

Kingsbury knew he had an opportunity for a scholarship this season after his postseason meeting with McCaffery last spring.

“Fran kind of told me that it was probably going to happen,” Kingsbury said. “So it was just kind of a waiting game. I was kind of antsy for a long time. I don’t remember if it was June or July, (McCaffery) just pulled me aside in practice and told me it was going to happen. And, you know, I was very thankful, obviously, and my family was really excited for the opportunity.”

Kingsbury knows of his father’s reputation at Iowa — he is fourth on the program’s all-time list of 3-point goals with 226, and his 117 3-pointers in the 1994-95 season rank No. 1 on the program’s single-season list. Chris also had two games with nine 3-pointers during that season.

Asked if his father can still make threes, Carter said, “Of course. Of course.”

“I’ve got two younger brothers that he’s coaching now,” Carter continued. “So he’s coaching non-stop, and he’s always in the gym. He’ll tell you that he’s still just as good a shooter as he was back then.”

But asked if he could beat his father in a 3-point contest, Kingsbury showed a similar confidence his father had.

“Of course,” he said, smiling.

Photo: Iowa’s Carter Kingsbury celebrates a teammate’s 3-pointer in a game against Maryland last season. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)