Gesell not pain-free, but may start against Northwestern
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Mike Gesell’s right foot reminds him that he’s not 100 percent.
“It’s almost like a stabbing feeling,” Gesell said, describing the pain associated with his injury. “A real sharp pain in that one spot. Different movements will set it off.”
The injury, diagnosed as a stress reaction, has kept Iowa’s freshman point guard and third-leading scorer sidelined the last four games. Gesell is expected to return for the Hawkeyes’ game with Northwestern on Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Will he start?
“That would be up in the air,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Tuesday. “We’ll see how he does (in practice). There’s a good possibility.”
Gesell returned to practice Monday. He’s been in a pool working on conditioning and riding a stationary bike. He recently resumed shooting.
“It’s still hurting me a little bit,” said Gesell, who is averaging 9.0 points and is second on the team in assists. “We’re trying to push the process along a little bit faster so hopefully I can play.”
Gesell said he is experiencing pain in the bone but there is no fracture. He said he first started having pain a few days before a game at Nebraska on Feb. 21. He played 30 minutes in that game. He hasn’t played since.
“After the game it started hurting really bad, and I didn’t know what happened,” Gesell said. “It came on quick.”
Gesell said his conditioning will be fine once he returns to the floor. He’s spent most of the time since his injury in a boot. He took it off for the last time last weekend, but still wears it on occasion to keep pressure off the foot.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
