By Kyle Mann
Men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s frontcourt was thin coming into the 2015-16 season, and it took a major hit when McCaffery announced following a 95-75 victory over Missouri-Kansas City that junior transfer forward Dale Jones will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Now, McCaffery and the Hawkeyes are forced to lean on young players who will be asked to take a step forward in their development perhaps sooner than was originally planned. They had their second game without Jones on Monday night, and to this point, they haven’t skipped a beat.
Sophomore Dom Uhl was expected to assume a larger role following a promising freshman campaign, and freshman Ahmad Wagner has distinguished himself not only as the most effective freshmen, but as McCaffery’s most trusted. Early in the season, even sophomore walk-on Nicholas Baer has received significant minutes.
Baer, a heady do-it-all forward, exemplifies the balance that he believes equips this Iowa team to withstand the loss of Jones
“That’s a strength of our team, is having balance,” Baer said. “So one night it could be Dom [Uhl], or it could be me or Brady [Ellingson], or anybody else coming off the bench ready to contribute. So balance is key for our team this year.”
Baer had 14 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes in Iowa’s victory over Missouri-KC, its first game without Jones, and showed he is far from any sort of liability when on the floor.
Uhl also had a stellar performance, notching his first double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He followed that with a stat-line against Western Illinois that suggests he will adequately replace the shooting offered by Jones, while also perhaps bringing an upgrade defensively.
Uhl scored 15 points against the Leathernecks on 4-of-8 shooting, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and also grabbed four rebounds with 3 blocks and a steal.
“Dom’s a good player, he’s improved over the last year and put on some weight obviously that you guys can see, and he just continues to work hard and get better,” starting center Adam Woodbury said. “That’s all you can ask for out of a guy on the second unit is to come in and play with energy and I think he’s done that very well this year.”
Uhl uses an in-out skillset and his unique length to make plays all over the floor, and as far as energy off the bench is concerned, Wagner will likely become the hustle-oriented sparkplug in his first season with the Hawkeyes. Wagner is an impressive athlete at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, and furthermore, has the mental maturity to match.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete, but he’s really a cerebral guy,” McCaffery said. “He understands what we need done…and he never tries to get out of what he does well. He makes a play when the play is there. If the play is not there, he moves it on and has a real keen idea of what’s needed from him and what our team needs.”
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