Tyler Cook has officially entered the 2019 NBA Draft.

That news wasn’t completely unexpected. Cook indicated last year when he decided to return after testing the NBA waters that he would probably go back in again following the season and he’s done just that.

This time he’s going in with both feet and decided that he moving on from the Hawkeyes.

Cook earned All Big Ten honors this past season (second team by the media and third team by the coaches) after averaging 14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. This season he led the Hawkeyes back to the NCAA Tournament which included a win over Cincinnati and a tough overtime loss to #2 seed Tennessee.

From an overall perspective, Cook scored 1,315 career points, which is 20th in school history. He also pulled down 619 rebounds and shot 54.2% from the field.

He was an instant starter for the Hawkeyes since arriving on campus three years ago. Cook gave the Hawkeyes a real presence on the low block and his high flying powerful dunks will be missed next season.

This means two players who have officially left the Iowa program since the end of the season. Maishe Dailey decided to transfer shortly after the end of the season. Last year, Isaiah Moss also tested the NBA Draft process, but it is unknown if he will do that once again this year. This year that deadline is April 21st.

The loss of Cook is significant for the Hawkeyes. Iowa doesn’t have anyone like him on the roster from a size and athletic ability standpoint. He was a very productive scorer and also someone who commanded a double team quite often and he drew a lot of fouls from opposing teams. That ability to draw fouls helped the Hawkeyes get to the foul line earlier in games and they were one of the top teams in the nation much of the year in free throw attempts and free throws made.

But, the cupboard won’t be completely bare. In fact, it’s pretty well stacked.

Cook averaged 31 minutes per game this year, so that’s what Iowa will have to fill.

The best guess is this opens up a spot in the starting lineup for Cordell Pemsl. He redshirted this year after surgery to remove hardware from his knee. Pemsl played in two games this season and had a fantastic performance against Iowa State, where he scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in a win.

Pemsl played 16 minutes per game last season and averaged 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. I would expect him to play between 20-25 minutes next season.

Another redshirt who will factor in at the power forward is Jack Nunge. Fran McCaffery raved about his development this past season and now he’s a solid 250 pounds, stronger thanks to his work in the weight room, and still running the floor at the same level. In his freshman year, Nunge played 15.7 minutes per game and averaged 5.7 points and 2.8 rebounds a contest. He should be able to give the Hawkeyes that level of minutes with improved production, especially on the glass.