Iowa men’s basketball has seen a facelift of its roster, identity, coaching staff, and what next year will look like. With new head coach Ben McCollum now leading the program, his roster is very reliant on transfer portal talent.
The talent he has brought in has infused excitement into the Iowa Hawkeyes’ men’s basketball program after things had seemingly gone stale for the last few seasons.
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That excitement could grow rapidly if McCollum can get the talent to mesh quickly by blending their skills. If he can do that, the Hawkeyes could be a player in the national college basketball landscape as detailed by On3, who put the transfer portal class among those that could change college basketball next season.
Iowa
Transfers: PG Bennett Stirtz (Drake), PF Alvaro Folgueiras (Robert Morris), SG Brendan Hausen (Kansas State), SF Tavion Banks (Drake), SG Isaia Howard (Drake), PF Cam Manyawu (Drake), SG Kael Combs (Drake)
Ben McCollum accepted the head coaching job at Iowa and brought five of his Drake players along with him. The headliner of the group is point guard Bennett Stirtz. The 6-foot-4 lead guard was the MVC Player of the Year, averaging 19.2 points and 5.7 assists last season. Kansas State transfer Brendan Hausen is one of the better movement shooters in this portal class. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is a career 39.1 percent three-point shooter on 5.3 attempts. Alvaro Folgueiras, a 6-foot-9 forward from Robert Morris, is the Horizon League Player of the Year after averaging 14.1 points and shooting 41.3 percent from three.
Kael Combs and Isaia Howard followed McCollum from Drake, and they will provide depth pieces at the guard spots. Tavion Banks is a lengthy defensive presence who plays in the gaps with a purpose on offense. Cam Manyawu started 35 games last season as a sophomore at Drake. In 18.8 minutes, he finished third in the conference with 72 offensive rebounds, and his 17.7 total rebound percentage was also third.
The new Hawkeye coach had a lot of ground to cover when building a roster. He was able to attract multiple players with him from his 3-plus-win Drake team. Adding shooting from Hausen and Folguerias only adds to the punch. He will still need to add some more depth pieces, but the top end of this group should make them competitive. – Shaw, On3
The Hawkeyes are looking to improve their play in the Big Ten, where they struggled last year, as well as make a trip back to the NCAA Tournament.
Ben McCollum won an NCAA Tournament game with Drake this past season, and with a little bit of transfer portal magic, he could have the recipe to take the Hawkeyes to a Sweet 16 run or deeper.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa men’s basketball transfers set up to shape college basketball
