Odds good that Iowa's Brady Ellingson will get medical redshirt
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Iowa freshman guard Brady Ellingson will not play basketball again this season and will apply for a medical redshirt, something coach Fran McCaffery is confident will be approved.
Ellingson was slowed by a foot injury coming into the season. He had surgery and continued to deal with pain. In Tuesday's 77-75 win at Minnesota, Ellingson was on the Hawkeye bench but wore formal clothing.
"He's going to continue to try to practice and things like that," McCaffery said Friday. "But yeah, he's going to redshirt.
"From the minute he got here in June, he's not been 100 percent. He was hurt when he got here. He tried to get better, and then he got surgery, and then he tried to come back, and then he had a setback, and that was a long break, and then it still hurts."
By the NCAA's hardship rules, Ellingson would seem to qualify for a redshirt. The two big qualifiers that Ellingson has in his favor: He didn't play in any game in the second half of the season (his last action came Dec. 30 against Ohio State, Iowa's 14th game of a scheduled 32, counting the first round of the Big Ten tournament), and he played in fewer than 10 games, or 30 percent (he appeared in seven).
The next step is the application process. McCaffery explained that doctors have to evaluate the situation and, in his words, "put their reputation on the line," before submitting paperwork to the Big Ten Conference.
"There has to be legitimacy to it," McCaffery said. "It can't be the guy played in seven games in the first half, and oh, yeah, had that thing with my knee, and you're kind of making it up.
"(Ellingson) was in a boot all summer, then he had surgery, he's back in a boot. It's got to be all documented, and there's got to be legitimate medical personnel who say, you know what, this didn't work for this kid this year. So they have to sign off on it."
Ellingson played 32 minutes this season and made four baskets – all 3-pointers – in eight attempts. If the medical hardship is approved, the Sussex, Wis., native would have four years of eligibility starting next season.
"I think next year he's going to be a really good player for us," McCaffery said. "I think it was the right move for him, and I think it was the right move for our program."