Iowa's Fredrick Has Foot Surgery

Guard missed six games last season with various injuries.

Iowa guard CJ Fredrick underwent successful surgery of his right foot Tuesday at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, the athletic department announced Wednesday.

Fredrick, who missed six games last season because of various injuries had a screw inserted to his fifth metatarsal because of a stress fracture. The third-year sophomore is expected to be off the court the next six weeks.

“The timing for this surgery was perfect,” Fredrick said in a statement. “This procedure will allow me to recover quickly and be able to play pain free in that foot for the season. I can’t wait to begin rehabbing and working toward the upcoming season.”

“CJ’s right foot has been bothering him for several weeks and this procedure is a proactive approach to expediate the healing process,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “CJ has had a tremendous offseason of training and we are confident he will be even stronger when he returns next month.”

Fredrick was a regular in the Hawkeye lineup as a redshirt freshman last season, starting all 25 games he played in while being named to the All-Big Ten freshman team.

Fredrick, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, led the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.461, 47-of-102) and ranked third on the team in points per game (10.2). Fredrick was one of only three players nationally — and the only player from a major conference dating back to 1993 — to total 65 or more assists, 32 or fewer turnovers, and shoot 46 percent or better from 3-point range.

The only bad part of Fredrick's first season was his battle with injuries. He missed the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Syracuse (quadricep), two games in January (stress reaction in foot) and three games in February (ankle).

But Fredrick returned at the end of the season to average 33 minutes in Iowa's final three games, and seemed to be getting back into a rhythm before the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments were canceled because the coronavirus pandemic.