It’s that time of year again. When the door on the season closes, the window of the portal opens. So far, there’s been no official movement among the Iowa Hawkeyes, though that could change. But the current state of Iowa’s roster is … pretty good all things considered.
As JP noted, the Hawks lose 3 guys through graduation, though Tavion Banks could find another year given how juco seasons have been wiped out with court decisions. Bennett Stirtz leaves a 40 MPG hole, of course, but Brendan Hausen’s
on court contributions were small. Credit to Ben McCollum’s roster building for not coming over from Drake with a rotation full of seniors which will require total replacement. So Iowa can be very selective in who they bring aboard.
Point Guard
Kael Combs was one of the unsung heroes of this season. He was among the biggest question marks I had when he came over, as he played just 13 minutes a game at Drake, which was barely a step up from his minutes at Wyoming. While his scoring was at just 6.1 PPG, he did not serve as a true shooting guard alongside Stirtz but often ran the show while Stirtz operated off ball, tallying 2.4 assists/game to 1.4 turnovers.
The biggest step forward Combs can have is simply in consistency. There’s no greater demonstration of this than how filled the gaps in the tournament. His 15 points in the opener against Clemson were perhaps the reason Iowa advanced in an absolute slog of a game. But he scored just 17 points in Iowa’s other 3 games (though he dished 13 assists to just 4 turnovers). He played excellent defense throughout.
With the loss of Stirtz, it’s natural to say this is a position of need in the portal. But where McCollum goes will give us a sense of what he’s looking for out of PG more broadly. Tyler Tachman dove deep into past point guards McCollum has had and the results are substantial. This feels a bit like a season before a season, though, with the Hawks searching for a guy with a year or maybe two who can operate alongside Combs in 26-27 as Iowa chases some of the White Whales of Hawkeye Basketball (elite PGs).
Two names have popped up: Kyan Evans of North Carolina who averaged 10.6 PPG and 3.1 APG at Colorado State in his sophomore season. Crucially, he shot 45% from deep. His production tailed off in Chapel Hill, which is to be expected. The 6’2” senior-to-be hails from Kansas City, an area McCollum knows intimately. This would make a lot of sense.
The next is Finley Bizjack from Butler. At 6’4”, 195 lbs, he’s also got just one year to play and fits more of the mold of Stirtz in terms of size. He’s also more of a scorer with 17.1 PPG on 35% shooting from deep and just 2.5 assists.
Peyton McCollum, Ben’s son, is also on the roster but will likely be a reserve after his redshirt freshman season.
Wing
After getting an Elite 8 recruiting bump with Jaidyn Coon’s commitment, Iowa is absolutely loaded here, even if Banks doesn’t return. Tate Sage, Isaia Howard, and Ethan Harris are all likely to get minutes outside the post.
The biggest questions here is: how deep does McCollum go? Are Coon & Harris quick adapters to what the Hawks want out of their guys? Tachman noted on a recent podcast that D-1 scouts are incredibly high on Coon as a defender while McCollum noted Harris’ ability to defend guards in recent media availability. That’s a quick way to the floor at Ben McCollum’s Iowa.
They’re super young here, with Howard as the old hat as the only junior. Iowa will have a lot of options, too. They can go with two PGs on the floor if they land someone in the portal or get super big by sliding Cooper Koch or Trey Thompson up to the 3.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see Sage take a huge step forward. Throughout the season, he increasingly initiated the offense and was playing his best ball in March. Also in perusing past NW Missouri State stat pages, he fits the mold (6’7”, 210 lbs) of non-PGs who led the Bearcats in scoring (2021: Ryan Hawkins at 22.6 PPG; 2019: Joey Witthus, 21.1 PPG). There’s still room on the bus for Sage and as the driver I’m not afraid to fill it past capacity.
Forward
The big question mark here is whether Alvaro Folgueiras returns. The March Madness Hero ran incredibly hot and cold throughout the season and required a lot of coaching through the media with McCollum always referencing “winning plays” specifically to how the Spaniard played. At 8.4 PPG, that’s not what one would expect from last year’s non-Drake portal win.
If he’s not back, Iowa’s still in pretty good shape with Cooper Koch, who was #2 in Iowa’s minutes this season and started every game. He has positional flexibility on defense and often slid down to guard true 5s. There’s also Trey Thompson, the redshirt freshman who missed out on summer workouts and was never able to find a place in the rotation.
No matter, in casual pictures throughout the season, Thompson regularly looked like the biggest guy in the frame. He’s running pick & roll with Sage on the 2s and is defending 1-4. The year of seasoning can only have helped as he got used to the McCollum standard and college life after reclassifying.
Center
This is almost certainly Iowa’s biggest need, as Cam Manyawu could only do so much in those games where teams could run out 7-footers. At 19.2 MPG, he is used to the timeshare and will likely be in the same position next year, no matter who is back.
If Iowa is able to get a big in the portal, it calls into question how important 6’11 Trevin Jirak is. He seemed like an ideal redshirt candidate when he committed but was called into action for 17 games. He played well and consistently received the praise of McCollum for his practicing but definitely looked the part of a heavier-footed freshman.
As for a portal candidate here… Saint Mary’s Andrew McKeever stands 7’2” and averaged 8.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in his sophomore season. Oh yeah, that would do.
Way too early prediction on minutes
PG: Combs 80%; Portal guard 20%
Wing: Sage 60%; Portal guard 40%
Wing: Koch 30%; Howard 40%; Coon/Harris 30%
Forward: Koch 50%, Thompson 50%
Center: Manyawu 50%, Portal center 50%
Sadly, I’m not optimistic about Folgueiras’ return. We’ll always have his March Madness run. Yet there seem to be plenty of guys in line to fill in for the departures.
