Fran McCaffery praises Drew Thelwell for reaching 1,000 points: 'It's an incredible accomplishment'

The Iowa Hawkeyes had a bounce-back win against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday night, beating the Nittany Lions by a point. It was a game that saw guard Drew Thelwell surpass 1,000 career points for the Hawkeyes.

After the game, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery took some to praise Drew Thelwell both for what he’s done at Iowa and throughout his entire career.

“Well, I’m thrilled for him,” Fran McCaffery said. “It’s an incredible accomplishment. It’s really hard to do. What do we have, like 53 players in history? Something like that. It says a lot about who he is. The thing about him, though, I was probably more impressed when he got his 100th win. That shows exactly what his character is.”

While Drew Thelwell is only in his first season at Iowa, that 1,000-point mark remains exceedingly rare and it’s one he got to while playing for the Hawkeyes. He already has 194 points this season and now sits at 1,004 points for his career but will presumably continue to build on that mark.

After playing at Morehead State for four seasons, Drew Thelwell decided to use his fifth year at Iowa. At the same time, that means the majority of his on-court success in college has come at Morehead State. When he had the chance to share some of his own thoughts on the achievement, it became about that entire journey in college for him.

“I’ve got to give glory to God,” Thelwell said. “It’s been a long journey. I’ve got to thank my dad — he woke me up so many times in high school, middle school and sacrificed his time. He and my mom. To end it on a win is even better.”

In the win against Penn State, Drew Thelwell had 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. That tied him with Owen Freeman for the most points scored by an Iowa player in the win. It also comes in a season where he’s averaging 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He’s done that on 53.5 percent shooting from the field and 40.7 percent from three-point range.

On the season as a whole, Thelwell is one of several players contributing to the explosive Iowa offense. His 10.2 points per game are actually fourth on the team as a whole, making him one of four players who are averaging double figures for the season.