Iowa’s Sydney Affolter is ‘ahead of schedule’ with her knee recovery, might see minutes during season opener

IOWA CITY — Iowa women’s basketball guard Sydney Affolter is “ahead of schedule” in her recovery from a knee procedure earlier this fall, head coach Jan Jensen told reporters on Monday.

Jensen said the plan is to “work her in slowly,” but the first-year head coach did not rule out an appearance in Wednesday’s season opener against Northern Illinois.

“Hopefully we could get a few more reps in practice today and a few more tomorrow,” Jensen said. “And it’d be wonderful if she could see some minutes on Wednesday.”

The 5-foot-11 senior will be a welcomed addition to the rotation for the Hawkeyes, which lost four starters from last year’s national runner-up team. She averaged 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds as she appeared in all 39 games last year with 12 starts.

Affolter said the rehab process has been “going great.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of cardio outside of basketball that has helped a lot,” Affolter said. “And strength training, getting my muscles back to where they were and finally getting back into basketball these past two weeks.”

Her quick recovery is “not surprising” considering that Jensen does not know “if I’ve really coached anyone as tough” as her.

“She’s probably in the Megan Gustafson category,” Jensen said. “Kate Martin-esque. ... She didn’t really want to sit out, A, and then when she had to, it was clear before any procedure happened that she would be back earlier.”

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