Gatens to miss Iowa's exhibition; Cole questionable

IOWA CITY - Iowa junior Matt Gatens will miss Sunday's exhibition against Illinois-Springfield and senior post Jarryd Cole is questionable, Coach Fran McCaffery confirmed Wednesday.

Gatens remains out after hand surgery last week. He had a tendon repaired in his left, non-shooting hand. SeCole is day-to-day with a foot injury.

“If you asked me yesterday did I think (Cole) would play? I would say no,” McCaffery said. “Will he start? I don't know. He might.”

Gatens suffered his injury on Oct. 26 and had surgery two days later. He now wears a cast over his left hand and said it should come off next Wednesday.

“It's been very different,” Gatens said. “I haven't experienced any injuries this serious. I just went up for a layup on a fast break and got fouled and came down on it. I don't know if I hit the bottom of the hoop or the floor. I dislocated it back, and I popped it in.”

Gatens couldn't work out until Monday, he said, because doctors didn't want him to sweat or risk infection. He now has began running and biking to rebuild his endurance. He lost 20 pounds in the off-season to play in McCaffery's new up-tempo style of offense.

Gatens has started 64 consecutive games and led the Hawkeyes in scoring last year at 12.3 points a game.

“My goal right now is to definitely play in that first game,” Gatens said. “But if the doctor says I can't, I can't.”

As a freshman Cole missed the Big Ten season after tearing the ACL in his left knee. That injury cost him explosiveness as a sophomore, and he had off-season surgery this summer to clear out scar tissue from that injury.

For Sunday's exhibition, Iowa has a mixed lineup replacing Cole and Gatens. Bryce Cartwright, a junior, is set to start alongside Cully Payne in the backcourt. The frontcourt includes sophomore Eric May and freshmen Melsahn Basabe and Zach McCabe.

Basabe, who stands 6-foot-7, is slated to replace Cole at center. If Cole returns, Basabe will move to the power forward slot.

“The thing he does, he rebounds the basketball,” McCaffery said. “He rebounds with two hands, goes and gets it. If you look at his numbers from his first day of practice, we chart everything live, his numbers have just been off the charts. I haven't seen numbers like this from a freshman as a rebounder.

“His offense is going to be up and down. That's going to be like that all year long."

McCaffery also praised McCabe's contributions so far.

“He may very well be our most consistent player,” McCaffery said.