Iowa enters McCollum's 2nd season tasked with carrying over momentum from surprise Elite Eight run

Ben McCollum’s first season as the Hawkeyes’ coach went from a rebuilding year to one to remember. Iowa had just one player back from the previous season, but McCollum turned the new roster into one that made it to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend for the first time since 1999 and the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987.

Third-year forward Cooper Koch was the lone returning scholarship player from the 2024-25 team and remains one of the team's anchors. He started every game last season after missing most of the previous season because of injuries. ... Cam Manyawu, one of the players who came with McCollum from Drake, also started every game and was an interior anchor on a team that didn’t have a lot of size. ... Tate Sage was an unknown coming in as a freshman last season, but slowly matured into being a key part of the rotation, scoring 19 points in the Hawkeyes’ win over Nebraska in the South Regional semifinal.

Iowa lost leading scorer and All-American guard Bennett Stirtz to the NBA, a player McCollum called the “gravity” of his team. Alvaro Folgueiras, who transferred to Louisville, hit some big shots for the Hawkeyes, especially in the NCAA Tournament, but often had games where he was ineffective and didn’t play much. Tavion Banks, Iowa’s second leading scorer from last season, also is gone, as is guard Brendan Hausen.

McCollum went into the transfer portal and found 7-foot-3 Andrew McKeever from Saint Mary’s, a 300-pound center who will give the Hawkeyes the size they missed last season. Ty’Reek Coleman, a second-year guard from Illinois State, was in contention for the starting point guard spot. First-year guard Ethan Harris and guard/forward Jaidyn Coon will battle for playing time.

The Hawkeyes’ lone non-conference home game against a ranked team will be against Iowa State on Dec. 10. Iowa gets Creighton on Nov. 15 and Alabama on Dec. 21 in neutral-court games in Des Moines, and plays Virginia Tech in Sioux City, Iowa, on Nov. 10. The Hawkeyes also play at Xavier on Nov. 20. The Big Ten opener is Dec. 1 at Purdue.

Forward Trey Thompson reclassified before last season to join the Hawkeyes, sitting out the year. Thompson, who didn’t turn 18 until last December, could be a key player off the bench. … McCollum’s son, Peyton, also sat out last season in his first year. … McKeever is the tallest player in program history.

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