Devon Archie's shoulder injury hurts him, Iowa

In order to compete in the talent-rich Big Ten, Iowa's men's basketball team needed to stay injury free and have its new players pick up Coach Todd Lickliter as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for Iowa, those ingredients for competition were hampered in the team's second practice Saturday. Iowa junior-college transfer Devon Archie will miss the start of the season and possibly up to two months after suffering a right shoulder injury.

Archie, 6-foot-9 junior,  was expected to challenge for playing time at both the post and power forward positions. In the Prime Time League Archie showed athletic ability and could jump out of the gym. It's unfortunate for both Archie and the Hawkeyes because he needed a full volume of practices to grasp the coach's system by the Big Ten season.

Iowa now will have junior Jarryd Cole and freshman Brennan Cougill carry the load in the post, while sophomore Aaron Fuller and freshman Eric May will work out at the power forward spot.

Here's a story I wrote about Archie back in  July:

NORTH LIBERTY -- Devon Archie's junior college statistics generated mostly bewilderment from fans after Iowa offered a scholarship to the Vincennes (Ind.) junior-college product.

Archie, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound power forward, averaged 6.8 points, six rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots last year for Vincennes. With those statistics, many may have wondered why Iowa would surrender a scholarship to a part-time starter -- 19 starts in 30 games.

"I don't think my stats really represent the type of player I can be," said Archie, a junior this fall for Iowa. "Juco is not really a big-man thing, honestly. But I think my best is yet to come."

Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter has called Archie an ascending player who played only two years of organized basketball at Indianapolis' Ben Davis High School before heading to Vincennes.

"I think I'm still learning the game, honestly," Archie said. "I think this level will help me out a lot, especially with development. It's going to make me mature more playing with these guys. As far as being physical, the best is yet to come."

Archie is a teammate of Iowa co-captain Jarryd Cole in the Prime Time League this summer. Monday, Archie hit 3 of 6 shots for eight points and grabbed nine rebounds. In four games, he's hit 12 of 24 field-goal attempts and scored 32 points.

Although Archie's athletic ability is apparent, the league hardly showcases his post skills. Former Hawkeyes Duez Henderson and Jason Price, for instance, combined for 28 shot attempts Monday, exceeding Archie's efforts in four games.

"I think it's more of a guard's game, more than anything," Archie said. "It's fun to come out here and work on my moves and work on things I need to work on.

"I think my style is more athletic. I can run the floor. I can use my leverage. I think I'm pretty good under the basket. I've got to work on my skills a lot more, though, like my hook and my footwork."

Cole is impressed with Archie's athletic ability and said those skills will help Iowa.

"He can jump out of the gym. He really can," Cole said. "He brings a lot more height and a lot of depth in the post area. We definitely need that this year."

Archie picked Iowa over Cleveland State for multiple reasons, including proximity to his family, playing in the Big Ten and the school.

"Devon is a high-energy player," Lickliter said. "He has the ability to defend inside and on the perimeter, and offensively he has the ability to finish inside. We're very excited about his potential and upside as he continues to gain experience."