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The Iowa Hawkeyes got some huge news earlier this week when news broke that Tyler Cook would be returning to school for another year. He had declared without an agent for the 2018 NBA Draft, but fans learned that he would now be returning to school.
Iowa’s Tyler Cook told ESPN he will return to school for his junior season.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) May 30, 2018
During his two seasons in Iowa City, Cook has been quite a productive player. He has averaged 14.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game and has been a force around the rim. He was particularly impressive during the latter portion of last season, scoring double-digits in 10 of the team’s final 12 games.
The Iowa press release included the following:
“I am excited to return to Iowa for my junior season,” said Cook. “I am grateful for the opportunities and feedback that I have received from NBA personnel. I am thankful for coach McCaffery and the coaching staff for their assistance and patience with me during this process. I thank God for the experiences that I had and progress I have made during this time. I can’t wait to get back to work and continue to try to lead this team back to the NCAA Tournament. I appreciate the love and support by all during this process.”
. . .
“We are happy to have Tyler back for his junior season,” said McCaffery. “Tyler is an extremely talented young man who will continue to work tirelessly to reach his potential and ultimate goal of playing in the NBA. We encouraged Tyler to take advantage of this process and take as long as he needed and I’m proud of how he went through this process. Tyler did well in his workouts and interviews, which will bode well for him next year when he goes through the process again. He has had a significant impact on our basketball team the past two seasons and we look forward to Tyler improving his overall skillset and being a leader for us next season.”
There’s little denying that this is huge news for the Hawkeyes moving forward. While last season was a disappointing one for the program, much of the roster returns and Cook is expected to make a significant impact. Whether Iowa can live up to that hype remains to be seen, but this is a good start.