According to Fran McCaffery, freshman forward Cooper Koch has likely played the final minutes of his first season at Iowa, due to an undisclosed medical condition.
"I think it's safe to say that his condition is such that he probably won't be playing this year," McCaffery said on a Zoom call with the media Tuesday morning. "We'll probably look to pursue [a medical redshirt]."
Koch, who has missed the better part of the last six weeks, interspersed with missed time in the first half of the season, hasn't seen the floor for the Hawkeyes since Iowa's January 3 loss at Wisconsin.
Following the matchup with the Badgers, McCaffery gave a look into what the season has been like for the legacy Hawkeye and son of former Iowa forward, JR Koch.
"It's not been easy for him," McCaffery said. "I really feel for him because he's a wonderful kid and a really good player. We could really use him. He desperately wants to be out there. But we're on top of his health situation, which is the most important thing."
In the ten games he played this season, Koch averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds over 13.6 minutes per game. He shot 48.4% from the field and 42.9% from three when available.
McCaffery didn't offer further details of Koch obtaining the medical redshirt, stating that "it's kind of a long process." However, earlier in the year, Iowa's head man did share that he met the requirement of having surgery, so, chances are Koch will be given the extra year of eligibility and be back in 2025-26.
Prior to he season, a source described him Koch as "the real deal," and capable of starting as a true freshman -- losing the highly-touted freshman that came in as a four-star prospect and one of the top recruits in the country is just the latest let down for a season that had high expectations.
With Koch more-or-less guaranteed to be out the remainder of the year, he joins Owen Freeman who had season-ending surgery last Monday and is expected to be sidelined the remainder of the season.
Additionally, Drew Thelwell may miss Wednesday's game after sustaining a lower-leg injury against Wisconsin on Saturday.
"It's hard to say [what his status is this week]," McCaffery added on Tuesday. "He didn't practice yesterday, so we'll see what he does today."
Iowa travels to New Jersey today to take on Rutgers (12-12, 5-8) at 5:30 PM CT on Wednesday evening. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
