Sydney Affolter's injury will immediately test Iowa women's basketball roster's growth

Sydney Affolter’s injury will immediately test Iowa women’s basketball roster’s growth

Posted by Admin October 2, 2024 Basketball

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen has been in the coaching business long enough to know avoiding health turbulence for an entire season is a futile expectation. Injuries happen. And adjusting to them is more productive than complaining about them.

That said, Jensen knows the timing of this most recent issue is less than ideal. Although senior guard Sydney Affolter isn’t expected to be out long after undergoing knee surgery — early November is circled for a return — losing a developing team’s most authoritative voice for any amount of time will require some adjusting.

“When you take out someone like Syd, who is leading like Kate (Martin) did, that’s a difference. And it’s unfortunate,” Jensen said Wednesday at her first Big Ten Media Days leading the Hawkeyes. “But you can’t do our jobs and not anticipate that you’re going to have hiccups like that.”

For all that’s different with the Hawkeyes this season, Affolter’s veteran presence has been crucial in linking Iowa’s decorated past with its growing future. She’s organically filled the Kate Martin role as the Hawkeyes’ most authoritative voice, while understanding this team will require more time to grow than the previous ones. Not having a trusted piece on the practice floor leading up to a season full of transition presents another hurdle Jensen must navigate.

“We haven’t really had that full unit (this offseason),” said Jensen, who’s also had to deal with Hannah Stuelke being sidelined for much of the summer with her own knee issue. “So when you talk about leaning in and trying to move forward, we haven’t had those experienced leaders all together.”

The flipside is Iowa’s newcomers will get some unexpected accelerated growth. Remember, it was Affolter herself whose role increased last year when Molly Davis went down right before the postseason. And while Davis’ knee injury was far more severe than Affolter’s seems to be — thus making the fill-in expectations significantly larger — the Hawkeyes hope names like Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni and others can benefit from Affolter’s absence.

“The positive in my mind, how I’ve framed it is, these young kids are going to get a lot more reps,” Jensen said. “They’re going to get a lot more opportunities in practice every day. And that’s going to end up being a good thing. But I’m missing Syd’s voice even the last few days and just the way Syd does things.

“Again, the positive is this young team is going to get a lot of reps a lot earlier.”

And perhaps Iowa is better for this situation in the long run, as long as Affolter’s injury doesn’t linger deep into the season or require a lengthier absence. The hope is Affolter will return early in non-conference play, healthy and re-energized to be the leader on and off the court Iowa needs.

“She has really gradually led. She has listened. She has watched. She’s really tried to take the notes from a Kate Martin, and that’s really been a cool thing to see,” Jensen said. “She’s just led this summer. Anything that needed to be done, Syd had already done it.

“She had planned scrimmages. She had gotten get-togethers organized without the coaches. And she was really running those practices when we couldn’t be there as coaches. So I think she’s just a great example of someone who’s watched and learned and waited for her time. Now that she’s a senior, I think she’s really ready to embrace this year at every level.”

Even if it’ll start from an unfortunate place.

“Syd will yell at us,” Stuelke said with a laugh, “from wherever she is.”

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.