DALE JONES INJURES KNEE, OUT FOR SEASON

It was a busy sports weekend for Iowa and sometimes things get lost in the shuffle.  Like, for instance, the fact that Iowa basketballer Dale Jones injured his knee last week and will miss the rest of the season.

Iowa's Dale Jones out for the season. Will have knee surgery. Has already used redshirt season.

— Rick Brown (@ByRickBrown) December 5, 2015

Well, crap.

Jones apparently injured in his right knee during practice last week.  The injury will require surgery and he'll miss the remainder of the 2015-16 season as a result.  Hopefully Jones makes a fully and speedy recovery and is able to contribute to Iowa for his final season in 2016-17.  It is a bit troubling that he already missed a season (2013-14) with an injury to the same knee.

Jones was averaging 5.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg in six games of action so far this year and figured to be a key member of Iowa's rotation this season.  The departures of Aaron White and Gabe Olaseni after last season left Iowa lacking size and Jones, a JUCO from Tyler Community College who played his high school ball in Waterloo, was expected to be one of the guys in line to help replace them in the Iowa lineup.  Jones was also being counted on to provide some firepower from long range -- he was shooting a very healthy 45% on 3-point attempts (9/20) so far this season.

In Jones' absence, Iowa figures to rely even more heavily on Dom Uhl, Nicholas Baer, and Ahmad Wagner to contribute off the bench.  That worked well against UMKC over the weekend -- Uhl had 14 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes, Baer had 14 points (on 4/5 shooting from deep) and 5 rebounds minutes, and Wagner had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 17 in minutes -- but Iowa won't play many foes as accommodating as UMKC the rest of the year.  But hopefully those three are able to use that performance as a springboard to future good performances -- they'll be needed as Iowa moves forward without Jones.

Best of luck to Jones on a successful surgery and speedy recovery.