As for the 3 freshmen - Luke Garza, Jack Nunge, and Connor McCaffery - combining for 38 points, that is good news for the team. Iowa player Christian Williams has decided to leave the team and continue his college education closer to his home in Decatur, IL, per the press release, so that does open a scholarship for Connor, who had been planning to red-shirt this year.
One quick note about Williams: Decatur, IL, is not far from Iowa City. It's 237.8 miles (per google) and a short 3 h 39 min away. I can understand the excuse to go to college closer to home for a player that comes from, say, California or Texas, to Iowa, because those states are further away. For example, California is 1,527 miles from Iowa (roughly). So that makes sense. Saying you want to be closer to home when you are 3 1/2 hours from home? That doesn't feel right. Maybe it is legit. Here's an article about the decision that raises the same type of speculation (which is all it is - I have no intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the team: https://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2017/10/26/16555778/point-guard-christian-williams-to-transfer-iowa-basketball-hawkeyes-connor-mccaffery. There's also this article in the Gazette that compiles quotes from interviews over the summer: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/college/mens-basketball/christian-williams-leaves-iowa-hoops-20171026. Again, I have no intimate knowledge of the situation but I question the reason cited. I wish Williams well and I hope he finds what he is looking for in his final two years of college.
Per the article and the box score below, Connor scored 5 points, all from the free throw line in 18 minutes of action. Am I supposed to be impressed?!?
Here's a Big Ten Network clip after the game:
GO HAWKS!!
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