How Payton Sandfort Sacrificed 2025 NBA Draft Prep For Iowa Hawkeyes in 2024-25

Payton Sandfort took a shot at the 2024 NBA Draft as a junior coming out of Iowa. He went to the 2024 NBA Draft combine, but continuing injuries in both of his shoulders made him a non-viable candidate for NBA teams.

These shoulder injuries were nothing new for Sandfort, and Tyler Tachman of the Des Moines Register revealed that the 6-foot-8, 215 pound forward from Waukee, Iowa dealt with them for much of his senior season. Dislocations of both shoulders were common for the Hawkeyes' leading scorer and rebounder for much of the season. Despite these issues, plus a fractured shooting wrist he suffered in November of 2024, Sandfort was one of only four Hawkeyes to play every game this past season.

He was literally a warrior, playing through situations that lesser players would have taken time off for.

“It was like putting my body on the line every night and not knowing what was going to happen," Sandfort said of his senior season, per Tachman. "I never wanted to make an excuse. I literally just did it so that we could win.”

Iowa ultimately went 17-16 and finished 12th in the Big Ten with a 7-13 conference record. The Hawkeyes missed the NCAA Tournament and head coach Fran McCaffery was relieved of his duties after 15 seasons.

Though Iowa did beat Nebraska to end the regular season and then Ohio State in Round 1 of the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes' season came to an end in Round 2 against Illinois. Sandfort fought through injuries all season for the Hawkeyes, where in an alternative world he could have been rehabbing his shoulder injuries in an attempt to make a strong push for the 2025 NBA Draft.

Ultimately, the Des Moines Register report revealed that Sandfort underwent surgery on his right torn labrum in early April. He's scheduled to have surgery on the left torn labrum in early May, which puts serious strain on the start of his professional career considering he won't be cleared to play until November.

That final loss to Illinois may have hurt more for Sanfort than some other Hawkeyes because of all he sacrificed for the team in 2024-25. It doesn't sound as if he's giving up on his professional dreams, though he did admit that things are going to be tougher for him because he was so tough this past season for Iowa.

“It was obviously pretty brutal losing and devastating,” Sandfort said of the Illinois loss. “It almost felt like all the sacrifice hadn’t been worth it. But it also had been worth it because there was so much good that happened at the end and finish on a high note. But it was really tough mentally for a while, just knowing that I had pretty much sacrificed all the pre-Draft stuff, all the summer league, all the training camp for next year, which puts me in a tougher spot.”