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2014 NBA Draft Breakdown: Zach McCabe - A Year in Review

Zach McCabe's senior season wasn't his best, but he will be remembered as part of the class who brought Iowa back to the NCAA Tournament.

Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sport

Zach McCabe is the type of senior that every good basketball program has. He was never the guy to make the big shot (see game against Wisconsin this past season), or never made the big dunk, but he brought leadership and always played his hardest.

Now, let's not fool ourselves here, McCabe's senior season might be considered his worst in his four seasons at Iowa. His FG% and 3P% were his worst in his career and there wasn't much difference in attempts per game in both categories. He also posted his worst assist per game average and second worst turnovers per game of his career.

Needless to say, McCabe was not much of a factor this season, but he did have a few big games. In the NCAA Tournament play-in game, he might have played his best game on the season. He scored 9 points and brought down 6 rebounds. In typical Zach McCabe fashion, he fouled out in just 22 minutes. Amazingly, while never playing more than 23 minutes in a game, he fouled out 7 times on the season. In 13 non-conference games, he did score in the double digits 8 different times. Once the B1G season started though, he scored in the double digits 0 times.

McCabe was a part of one of the most talked about events during the Iowa season and that came after a bad airball against Wisconsin. The shot came with no time left and the fact that it was so badly missed cause many on twitter to send immature and hateful texts. This response caused Head Coach Fran McCaffery to forbid twitter use for the rest of the season. The way some fans responded to this situation appalled many, but was not too surprising considering how big NCAA basketball is and also how great Iowa was playing up to that point.

So, what does the future hold for him? Well, there's no way he heads to the NBA and honestly making a pro team in Europe would surprise many around the program. There just isn't much demand for a college player who never averaged 22 minutes or 8 points per game. Up to this point, this article has been pretty negative towards the guy. I really hope people don't think I'm hating on him, but just stating more of the facts.

Zach McCabe should be applauded for sticking through some tough seasons at Iowa. Years from now Iowa fans will include him when talking about the senior class that brought the Hawkeyes back to prominence. When it's all said and done, McCabe will leave Iowa with two current records (games played and consecutive contests played) and a degree in leisure studies. He also will leave Iowa with a solid game played against Tennessee during March Madness.

We wish you the best Zach.