Owen Freeman injury update: Iowa star out for season with finger surgery

Iowa sophomore Owen Freeman will have finger surgery on Monday and miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season, the program announced in a press release. Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery provided further details on the decision.

“After discussions with Owen, his family and our medical staff, surgery is the best course of treatment in terms of proper healing and rehabilitation,” McCaffery said. “We expect Owen to make a full recovery. He has the full support of his teammates and coaches during this entire process.”

Freeman’s season-ending injury is a massive blow to the Hawkeyes. Freeman is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 boards per game while shooting an efficient 63.8% from the field.

Freeman is the only Hawkeye who has scored double figures in every game this season. It was an impressive leap this season for Freeman, who was already excellent during his debut campaign.

Last season, Freeman was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches after being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week nine times — the second-most in league history.

In Owen Freeman’s final game this season, he recorded 14 points and eight rebounds in just 23 minutes of action. Alas, the Hawkeyes were unable to come away with the win, falling 82-65 to Ohio State.

With the loss, the Hawkeyes are now 13-8 on the season and 4-6 in conference play. Iowa is currently 12th in the Big Ten standings. After the loss against the Buckeyes, Fran McCaffery discussed what went wrong and where the Hawkeyes need to improve.

“We went on a pretty big scoring drought. As you know, if that happens, then you need stops. We’re missing, so they’re running on our misses. They got going in transition and were attacking. They got a team that can do that, a lot of different guys,” McCaffery said.

“So our shot selection needs to be better. Plus, we didn’t get one offensive rebound in the second half, so when you’re missing shots, you’ve got to get a couple back. We did that in the first half. We had seven offensive rebounds in the first half. It’s a pretty good number. Zero in the second half.”

After having a seven-day break, Iowa will suit up again on Tuesday to face off against No. 10 Purdue at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air live on Peacock.