Iowa's Fran McCaffery: Cully Payne's red-shirt a 'formality'

IOWA CITY - Iowa sophomore point guard Cully Payne is unlikely to play the rest of the season, Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery said Friday.

Payne has missed all but five games this year after having sports hernia surgery in November. His conditioning is still limited and he cannot run or jump for fear of further injury.

"It doesn't appear he's going to be back any time in the next seven or eight weeks," McCaffery said Friday. "I think if you do the math, how many games will be left? What is it, eight, nine weeks? You know, what's fair to him? He's only played five, so he can get the medical red-shirt.

"We're probably headed to that being a formality at some point until somebody just makes it final. But I would say right now it doesn't look like he'll be playing."

McCaffery said he would defer to team doctors before making the decision final.

Payne started all 32 games last year for Iowa, averaging 8.7 points and leading the team with 122 assists. He started the first five games before opting for surgery.