Big Ten Basketball: Iowa rises, Michigan State falls in updated WTE 2024-25 rankings

15. Iowa Hawkeyes

At the NBA Draft deadline, the Hawkeyes were one of the few teams with a major pending decision. That was Payton Sandfort, who led the team with 16.4 ppg and 6.6 rpg. The 6’7 wing shot 38% from three-point range on over seven attempts and had some projections as a possible first-rounder. So his decision to return instantly saved them from being at the bottom of Big Ten Basketball next season.

That doesn’t mean that the Hawkeyes are still an NCAA Tournament team. They lost three of the other key pieces from last season in Ben Krikke, Tony Perkins, and Patrick McCaffery, with the latter two electing to transfer out. So that leaves a lot of pressure on those still around, though there are two potential breakout stars.

Owen Freeman (10.6 ppg and 6.6 rpg) was one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten and without Krikke around, will have an even larger role next season. The same goes for starting guard Josh Dix (8.9 ppg) and Brock Harding, who could be the starting point guard.

Transfers Drew Thelwell and Seydou Traore are two projected rotation pieces but the Hawkeyes are going to rely on the trio core of Sandfort, Freeman, and Dix to have hope of a postseason appearance.