Iowa men’s basketball’s annual summer kids camp might as well have been the Cooper Koch showcase. Koch, a first-year on the Hawkeyes, was in charge of the one-on-one station, and the 6-foot-8 forward served a valuable lesson to the youth: The best education is sometimes humiliation.
“Sometimes you’ve got to let them know,” Koch said with a smile. “They come in with a lot of cockiness, so you’ve just got to let them know.”
Koch wasn’t about to play down to his competition. Rather, he raised the difficulty.
Iowa teammate Pryce Sandfort could only watch in awe as Koch nailed step-back jumpers from 30-feet out.
“He was just all net every time,” Sandfort recalled. “It was like, holy crap, ‘He’s gonna be special.’”
A four-star recruit and the son of former Hawkeye hooper JR Koch, Cooper Koch arrived on campus with hype, but missed four games this season due to what he called a medical issue. On Sunday in the Hawkeyes’ 104-57 victory against New Orleans, Koch saw his first minutes since Nov. 22, scoring six points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
“You could probably see I was a little gassed in the first half, but it felt really good to be back out there,” Koch said postgame. After sitting out and watching practice, you really, really miss it and appreciate it when you’re actually out there.”
Koch declined to give much detail on his medical issue, saying it wasn’t severe. Head coach Fran McCaffery said Koch missed six weeks over the summer after having surgery.
Once he made a couple trips down the court and worked up a sweat, Koch found his stride. After nailing a three-pointer in the corner on his first shot attempt, Koch secured two blocks, two rebounds and an assist before the halftime whistle.
This multi-faceted skillset is what stuck out to McCaffery while scouting Koch, who ESPN ranked as the No. 64 overall prospect coming out of Metamora High School in Illinois. The head coach said he was impressed Koch’s intensity level after surgery and held the same praise on Sunday afternoon.
“He’s going to give you everything he’s got,” McCaffery said of Koch. “He’s going to give you effort, he’s going to push through.”
Aside from showing 10-year-olds who’s boss at camp, Koch’s physical ability had its moments earlier this season, such as his putback jam against South Dakota.
Koch said he’s had many first impressions of Iowa after growing up a Hawkeye fan, but when the time came for him to don the Black and Gold and step on Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it all felt surreal.
Having played in only seven collegiate games, Koch’s has plenty still out in front him as a Hawkeye.
“He wants it so bad. He’s worked really hard,” McCaffery said. “Terrific player, a big part of our team, just rooting for him to continue to stay healthy.”