Kriener Signs Pro Deal
Former Iowa forward Ryan Kriener has found a place to start his professional basketball career.
Kriener signed with the Helios Suns team that plays in the Premier A Slovenian League. The team is based in Domžale, Slovenia.
Kriener was a key piece of Iowa's 2019-20 team that went 20-11 overall, 11-9 in the Big Ten.
From a numbers standpoint, this was certainly Kriener's best season.
The senior forward averaged 7.7 points, best of any Hawkeye off the bench. He played 569 minutes, the most of his career, and had a career-high 128 rebounds. He also had 24 blocked shots, doubling his output from last season.
Kriener, a 6-foot-10 forward, was one of the stabilizing parts of this team. He made six starts this season, the most of his career, and was a player that coach Fran McCaffery called on in key situations.
It was an up-and-down career for Kriener, who was plagued by two concussions that changed his sophomore season.
"He definitely has had a tremendous impact in the last two years," McCaffery said. "We always go back to that sophomore year where I think he was really on the verge, and then he had the two concussions, which obviously would set anybody back. When we played Penn State here that year, he was on his way to having one of the best games of the year, and that's when he got his first injury. And then he had the other one at Rutgers, and it took a little while, as you can imagine. Any time you have two ... we did not rush him back, and we missed him. We needed him that year.
"So we got him back, and he was great the last two years, because he can come off the bench and score. He can come off the bench and lead. He can come off the bench and bring toughness, and he can come off the bench and be a defender. He can switch ball screens and guard small guys. He can close and contest at the rim and block shots. Just phenomenally valuable, and one thing I always say about him is he's not out there making mistakes, plays within himself. He has a complete skill set."
Kriener was unhappy that his career ended before he could play in his final NCAA Tournament — the tournament, as well as the Big Ten tournament, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was a lot of fun being able to contribute," Kriener said. "And just win — I’ve always been the guy who has wanted to just win. It’s fun to be able to contribute and be able to do that. It was disappointing that we couldn’t play, and have some postseason fun."
