Iowa Hawkeyes Suffer Rough Injury to Key Bench Player

The Iowa Hawkeyes have suffered a rough injury to one of their key bench players.

Iowa forward Seydou Traore (7) and guard Drew Thelwell (3) pictured during the men’s basketball media day Monday, Oct. 7, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have gotten off to a 6-1 start to the 2024-25 college basketball season. Their only loss came against Utah State by a final score of 77-69.

On Tuesday night, Iowa picked up their latest win, beating South Carolina Upstate by a final score of 110-77.

While the win was expected and nice all at the same time, it didn't come without a loss as well.

Seydou Traore ended up leaving the game due to an injury. It has since been ruled to be a "bad" ankle sprain.

Standing in at 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, the forward has been a key part of the Hawkeyes' bench unit. Losing him for any length of time will take away some of the depth that has been a big part of Iowa's game plan.

So far this season, Traore has played in four games. He has averaged 21.8 minutes per game, scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 4.3 rebounds per game. Traore has shot 41.9 percent from the floor overall and has connected on 25 percent of his three-point attempts.

Hopefully, the sophomore will be able to make a quick return to the court. However, it doesn't sound great to hear a "bad" ankle sprain diagnosis.

Fran McCaffery, the Hawkeyes' head coach, spoke out about how his team must approach the injury.

“Like I said to you guys a long time ago, I feel comfortable with 13 guys," McCaffery said. "So I’m comfortable playing Mulvey and Kingsbury. They’re good players. So next man up.”

This is an unfortunate injury to have happen, but at least it's early in the season.

Traore will be able to take his time coming back and getting back to full strength. Ideally, he won't suffer any setbacks and won't miss a maximum amount of time with the bad ankle.