With former basketball star Peter Jok no longer playing in Iowa City, can sophomore guard Jordan Bohannon and forward Tyler Cook take over and be the guy, or guys, that Jok was? What are they replacing in Jok? Can they replace him?
Last season, Peter Jok averaged 19.9 points per game giving Iowa a viable weapon at the shooting guard position. His nearly 20 points of production per game, to go along with his raw ability and honors, will be hard to replace heading into the 2017-18 season. But there are two guys that the Iowa Hawkeyes are going to count on to see if he can fill the big shoes left by Jok and help make the Hawks a winner.
Those players are sophomores Jordan Bohannon Tyler Cook.
Bohannon, a who hails from Marion, Iowa and went to Linn-Marr High School has been pegged by many as Peter Jok’s replacement. Bohannon certainly has the skill and ability to perform well in Jok’s absence.
Last year, as a freshman, he had 10.9 points per game in 24 total games with 28 starts. He had the second most minutes played last year at 29.6 per game.
There is a bright future for Bohannon after he had a remarkable freshman season in Iowa City. He was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team as well as Iowa’s Top Newcome of the year honors
Now, he is poised to step up and help pick up where Jok left off.
Cook has been described as someone who can come in and take over scoring the points that Jok scored last season as well. The combination of Cook and Bohannon could be huge.
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Cook went to Chaminade Prep in St. Louis Missouri and was honored as part of the All-Freshman team in 2016-17. He scored an average of 12.3 points per game which was good for second on the team. Cook also had the third most minutes per game at 24.5. He is poised to help make up some of the production that will be missing from Jok’s departure.
In breaking down the scoring potential of each player, let’s look at their field goal and three-point percentage from last year. Bohannon was one of the best at scoring three-pointers last year as he had an average of .416. Cook’s average was .250, so threes are not his strong suit. When it comes to field goal percentages, Cook’s percentage was a strong .554 while Bohannon’s was .388.
Perhaps Cook will work well on the inside while Bohannon takes care of the three-pointers. Together they could be a deadly combination scoring a lot of points for the Hawks.
When it came to assists, Bohannon was a phenom getting 175 last season. Cook had 26. When you look at free throw percentage, Cook had .598 (73/122) while Bohannon’s percentage was .855 (47/55).
Remember that both players were freshman, so they still have long and productive careers remaining with Iowa. And they should be able to easily replace what was lost with Jok.
Perhaps, in their sophomore seasons, one of them will step forward and be the sole star on this team.
Better yet, maybe both will work their way to star on the Hawkeye basketball team. Maybe they will be able to help take the rest of team farther than they went last year and do better than the 19-15 record from the 2016-17 season?
Jok was one of those guys who is hard to replace, but with the talent, the Hawkeyes have in Cook and Bohannon, Jok may soon become a distant memory. Perhaps we will be mentioning both along with former Iowa greats when their careers in Iowa City are complete.
We will find out soon.