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23 U niversity of Iowa men's basketball fans are familiar with Dale Jones' arduous journey. It is one that has sidelined the forward for a majority of the last two seasons because of two separate injuries. Aer recovering from season-ending knee injury, Jones returned to action against Seton Hall on Nov. 17, Iowa's third game of the season. Less than two minutes aer entering the game, Jones suffered a fractured wrist on his shooting hand that led to a two month rehabilitation timeline. "He has been through a lot," said senior captain Peter Jok. "I'm his roommate and I've seen his struggles, but I always tell him to stay positive because I kind of went through the same thing even though he has gone through more." Jones returned to action Jan. 19 against Maryland, where he grabbed two rebounds and had two 3-point attempts in four minutes. Aer the game, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said Jones looked comfortable in his first game back. "e thing that I like about Dale is that he is not going to hesitate shooting the ball and that he goes to the glass," McCaffery said. "He works hard; he proved he belonged out there." Jones admitted being a little nervous in his first game back, but said it felt good to be on the court. "Being able to be on the floor again with my teammates was big for me," said Jones. "It didn't matter how many minutes I played, I just wanted to get my feet wet again. at was key." Jones said a benefit of being sidelined for two months with the wrist injury is that it allowed his injured knee to heal to a point where he doesn't even think about it anymore. "While I was out, I was still able to do my rehab and strength and conditioning and work on my stability," Jones said. "I have a full year under my belt now (since injuring his knee). ose extra two months helped my knee even more." Now that he is healthy, Jones is ready to help the team win any way he can. "Whatever coach needs from me — if we need energy off the bench, I'm there," said Jones. "I want to do whatever I can to help the team win during the second half of the Big Ten schedule." "I tell Dale to play the way he has always played and not to overthink things," Jok said. FEBRUARY SCHEDULE Feb. 5 Nebraska Feb. 8 at Minnesota Feb. 11 at Michigan State Feb. 18 Illinois Feb. 21 Indiana Feb. 25 at Maryland