Brady Ellingson will transfer from Iowa basketball team

IOWA CITY, Ia. — Brady Ellingson, a veteran shooting guard who struggled to find his shooting touch this season, announced Tuesday he is transferring from the Iowa men's basketball team.

The Wisconsin native is on pace to graduate this spring and will be immediately eligible for his final season at a new school to be determined.

Ellingson appeared in 94 games with the Hawkeyes, starting once. His best year came as a sophomore, when he averaged 4.4 points per game and shot 47.1 percent from the 3-point arc.

But he couldn't improve on those numbers this winter, averaging 2.8 points on 41.2 percent shooting overall. Ellingson missed time with a concussion and didn't score a point in Iowa's final 12 games of the season.

“We want to thank Brady for his contribution to our program over the past four seasons,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said in a university news release. “Brady is a hard worker, a terrific teammate, and a good student. We wish Brady good luck in his future endeavors. My staff and I will do whatever we can to help Brady during this transition.”

Ellingson's departure leaves former walk-on Nicholas Baer as the lone Hawkeye on the roster from the team's 2014 class. Dom Uhl exhausted his eligibility this season. Baer and fellow forward Ahmad Wagner will be the team's only two seniors next season, barring more roster movement.

The move potentially leaves a scholarship open for Connor McCaffery. The son of coach Fran McCaffery appeared in four games this season as a backup point guard but was not on scholarship. 

Earlier, Iowa sophomore forward Tyler Cook announced his intention to explore the NBA Draft process. The team's leading scorer and rebounder during a 14-19 season, Cook has not hired an agent and can return to the Hawkeyes before a June 11 deadline for withdrawing his name from the draft.