Jordan Bohannon ‘full-go’ for summer workouts after physical altercation, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says
The sixth-year guard suffered a “serious head injury” after being assaulted in downtown Iowa City in May.
June 3, 2021
Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said on a Zoom conference Thursday that Hawkeye guard Jordan Bohannon is a “full-go” for summer workouts after being physically assaulted in May.
Bohannon suffered what a University of Iowa press release described as a “serious head injury” in downtown Iowa City that required medical attention early in the morning of May 23. The men’s basketball team is holding its first practice of the summer Thursday afternoon, and Bohannon is now healthy enough to take part in it.
“I think he’s in a really good place,” McCaffery said Thursday in his first press conference since Bohannon’s altercation. “Obviously it was an unfortunate situation that he had to deal with, but I think he’s done really well with how he’s dealt with it. He’s anxious to get back out on the floor.”
Specifics on Bohannon’s injury have not been released. McCaffery simply said Thursday that at the time, it was a serious head injury, but Bohannon has since recovered.
McCaffery said that Bohannon has not decided whether or not he will press charges.
Bohannon has not publicly commented since the altercation.
Last season was thought to be Bohannon’s last in a Hawkeye uniform. But on April 26, the Iowa men’s basketball program’s all-time leader in assists (639), 3-pointers (364), and games played (143) announced that he was returning for a sixth season in the black and gold.
“I am beyond excited to return to Iowa for my sixth year,” Bohannon said in a release in April after his decision to return was made public. “Last year never felt right with no fans in attendance. I look forward to providing leadership to the young guys this upcoming year and help them along the way of the incredible journey.”
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Through his first five seasons at Iowa, Bohannon played point guard and was the team’s primary ball handler. But between Joe Toussaint waiting for his turn to take over at the “1” and the loss of starting shooting guard CJ Fredrick to Kentucky, McCaffery envisions Bohannon playing off the ball at the “2” next season.
Bohannon is 11 3-pointers shy of breaking Jon Diebler’s all-time men’s Big Ten Conference record (374). The Marion, Iowa, native also sits at No. 9 on the Iowa men’s basketball program’s all-time scoring list, and with 222 more points would pass Aaron White for No. 3 on the Hawkeye leaderboard.
Bohannon has 102 more 3-pointers than the program’s second all-time leader in shots from deep (Jeff Horner), and returns to a team in need of shooting.
Fredrick led the Big Ten in 3-point percentage two seasons ago and is a career 46.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes will also be without national player of the year Luka Garza (44 percent 3-point shooter last season) in 2021-22, and may also lose Joe Wieskamp (46.2 percent last season) to the NBA.
“When you lose Joe Wieskamp’s 3-point shooting and Luka’s 3-point shooting in particular, obviously [Bohannon] is a guy who, if he plays a full complement of games, can probably make 90 3s in a season,” McCaffery said. “My thought process is to get him as many shots as we can. Will he never play the point? That’s probably not the case. He will play some there I would think throughout the course of the season.
“We felt like having somebody who is an elite shooter would help this team, and I think he saw the same things that we saw and wants to help in any way he can.”