As one may think, most around the Iowa men’s basketball program weren’t surprised at Trey Dickerson’s decision to leave the team and transfer.
The sophomore, who was one of the highest-rated junior-college players when he signed with Iowa last year, saw limited minutes in only 15 of the Hawkeyes’ contests this season.
“He wasn’t getting the playing time he hoped to get,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “He didn’t have the role that he envisioned for himself when he came here.”
Doing the math, the decision makes sense. Dickerson is stuck behind three-year starting point guard Mike Gesell, who is only a junior, and junior Anthony Clemons, who is a regular in the rotation.
Clemmons is familiar to these types of situations after considering a transfer of his own last summer. He said he talked to Dickerson about the situation and gave him advice on his future.
“He talked to me about it early on. All you can do is try to stay positive,” Clemmons said. “… It’s not like coach isn’t noticing what you’re doing. Most of it is pride, but a lot of people can’t take stuff like that.
“He was a strong enough individual and said, ‘All right, I just can’t go through it.’ ”
Despite the difficult decision, McCaffery said, he will support Dickerson and do everything he can to make sure he finishes the semester at Iowa on a high note.
We’ll help him. Going to get a ton of phone calls about him,” McCaffery said. “We’ll talk to people, impress upon them that he has great character. A lot of times when there’s transfers, the first thing is, ‘Are there character issues? Is he a knucklehead, did he flunk a drug test?’ Anything like that. There are no issues at all with regard to those issues.”
With Dickerson gone, Iowa now has two scholarships available. McCaffery said he was unsure what he will do with the extra one. He has a few options — some of which are more likely than others. In the two most likely scenarios, Iowa will find another guard in its next recruiting class or wait and use the scholarship on a potential transfer.
That will be something to keep an eye on as the recruiting season progresses, and the result, at this juncture, remains to be seen.
“Ultimately, what’s important to me is our team chemistry. You start adding a guy who is a fifth‑year guy, a transfer that’s eligible right away,” McCaffery said. “You want to make sure that they fit not only in terms of what you see on the floor, but they fit in the locker room, they fit with what we’re trying to do as a program.”
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