A new era of basketball begins in Iowa for the first time in 15 years as Ben McCollum begins his first season as the Hawkeyes’ head coach. He succeeds outgoing Fran McCaffery, who piled up wins and brought impressive talent to Iowa City for more than a decade, but can McCollum push this program even further in the years ahead?
McCollum comes to town with high expectations after what he’s already accomplished in his career. The Iowa City native led his alma mater Northwest Missouri State to four D2 national titles in a six season span before jumping to the D1 level at Drake last season. McCollum led the Bulldogs to an incredible 31-win season that included an NCAA Tournament victory.
His first batch of Hawkeyes will certainly have some flavor from that Drake team, highlighted by point guard Bennett Stirtz. Not only was Stirtz a major force under McCollum last season but he also played for him previously at Northwest Missouri State. McCollum built that instant success with the Bulldogs with some familiar faces and he’s hoping to repeat the feat at Iowa.
Stirtz, who was widely considered one of the best names in the entire transfer portal, is far from the only former Drake player on Iowa’s new-look roster. Among the five other former Bulldogs, Tavion Banks stands out after averaging double figures and playing a significant role in Drake’s backcourt. Isaia Howard and Cam Manyawu also showed potential as underclassmen.
Building a Big Ten contender is no easy task, but McCollum isn’t just leaning on his former players. Former Robert Morris power forward Alvaro Folgueiras was last season’s Horizon League Player of the Year and one of the nation’s most efficient scorers, helping replenish what Iowa lost in the frontcourt. The backcourt gets another experience boost from Brendan Hausen, a former Top 100 prospect who was a backup at Villanova before starting last season for Kansas State, putting up nearly 11 points a game with decent shooting potential.
In recent years we’ve seen how full rebuilds using the transfer portal can allow teams to become quick contenders, but this is a little different. While nearly every relevant face is different for the Hawkeyes, they didn’t just grab any and all possible names from the portal like Kentucky and Louisville did this past offseason. McCollum knew what he had in those players from Drake and grabbed a few important pieces who he believes can contribute in the Big Ten.
There’s a significant step from the MVC to the Big Ten, but let’s not ignore that same step from D2 to a 31-win mid-major. The Hawkeyes have the talent to be a factor in the Big Ten right off the bat, especially if Stirtz takes another step forward and establishes himself as one of the league’s best point guards. If McCollum’s career has taught us anything it’s that Iowa is a team to watch next season and it’ll be interesting to see if he added enough talent to compete at the top of this league.