Year one with Iowa Basketball ended as a success for Ben McCollum. Can he build off that in year two without his superstar guard?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Iowa basketball.
After a long run with Fran McCaffrey, the two decided to part ways, with McCaffrey heading to Penn and Iowa looking for his replacement. They landed on Ben McCollum, who won 81% of his games in D2, then followed that up with a 31-4 season at Drake. At Iowa, he didn’t win 31 games, ending the season at 21-12, but it was enough to earn them an at-large as an eight seed.
From there, they knocked out Clemson in the first round, then shocked the one seed Florida thanks to a last-second three by Alvaro Folgueiras. They would then knock out Nebraska to reach their first Elite 8 since 1987. Not bad to reach the first Elite 8 for your program in nearly 40 years in your first season as head coach.
A big reason why was Bennett Stirtz, the extremely talented guard who just always seemed to make the right play. Just looking at the numbers, the gap between him and the rest of the team stands out immediately. Unfortunately, he’s graduated and is in the NBA, and now the new era for McCollum begins.
It’s a next-man-up mentality with this team, returning most of their role players who are hoping to take that leap with Stirtz, as well as Banks and Folgueiras out. Tate Sage could be that player, after a strong finish to his freshman year, as well as Cam Manyawu, the do-it-all big.
One player that will be hard to ignore is Andrew McKeever, the 7-3 giant in the middle who will absolutely wear out his opponent with his physicality. McCollum didn’t do much in the portal, but bringing in him and Tyreek Coleman, who provides a scoring boost off the bench, are great additions.
The Elite 8 run might have masked an otherwise average year for Iowa basketball, but now he has the chance to stamp himself as one of the best in the game in a difficult Big Ten.
Head coach: Ben McCollum (3rd season overall (D1), 2nd at Iowa)
2025-26 record: 24-13 (10-10)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to Illinois (71-59) in Elite 8 of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Bennett Stirtz (19.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 4.4 APG)
- Tavion Banks (10.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.1 APG)
- Alvaro Folgueiras (8.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.2 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Virginia Tech (Nov. 10)
- vs. Creighton (Nov. 15)
- at Xavier (Nov. 20)
- vs. Iowa State (Dec. 10)
- vs. Alabama (Dec. 21)
Projected Rotation
PG: Kael Combs (6-3, 204, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 6.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.7 SPG, 49.3 FG%, 83.7 FT%
SG: Tate Sage (6-7, 210, So.)
2025-26 stats: 6.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.7 APG, 49.3 FG%, 38.9 3P%, 71.1 FT%
SF: Cooper Koch (6-8, 228, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 7.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.6 SPG, 43.7 FG%, 40.2 3P%, 83.3 FT%
PF: Cam Manyawu (6-9, 255, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 6.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 63.1 FG%
C: Andrew McKeever (7-3, 300, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 8.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 50.0 FG% (Saint Mary’s)
6: Isaia Howard (6-5, 216, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 5.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 45.0 FG%, 69.4 FT%
7: TyReek Coleman (6-3, 190, So.)
2025-26 stats: 10.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 50.4 FG%, 41.6 3P%, 70.2 FT% (Illinois State)
8: Ethan Harris (6-8, 202, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 106 ranked recruit
9: Jaidyn Coon (6-6, 220, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 123 ranked recruit
10: Trevin Jirak (6-11, 249, So.)
2025-2026 stats: 3.4 PPG, 0.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 47.4 FG%, 70.4 FT%
Iowa basketball team MVP: Tate Sage
Sage was an unknown recruit coming out of high school, being ranked 365th in his class. He looked like a freshman early on, putting in a few minutes a game and not being much of a contributor. However, the more game experience he got, the better he became. He really stepped up in the NCAA Tournament, specifically the Sweet 16 when he scored 19 points, drilling 4 threes and grabbing 8 rebounds.
He followed that up with 10 points in just 18 minutes in the next game, and ended the NCAA Tournament shooting 57% from the field and 50% from three. With Stritz gone, McCollum and Iowa basketball are looking for a leader, and he can be the one to take that next step. He has good size, is obviously a great shooter, and McCollum knows his potential and will maximize it. Don’t be surprised if he is the biggest breakout star of the Big Ten.
Iowa basketball make-or-break player: Andrew McKeever
It’ll be hard to ignore the pure physical beast that is Andrew McKeever. At 7’3 and 300 pounds, there are few, if any, players in college basketball that can physically compete with McKeever. The person who needs to remember this the most is McKeever himself. He’s a great rebounder, grabbing 9.2 a game in just 23 minutes. He doesn’t get a ton of blocks or steals, but his verticality doesn’t show up on the box score and deters a lot of shots.
However, when you watch the tape, you can tell there’s a ton of room for growth in his game. Offensively, he’s been a bit underwhelming. If he can develop more of a paint presence and average 11-12 a game, that adds a whole dimension to his game. In 29 minutes against Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament, he scored 0 points. He shot 0-3 from the field and 0-4 from the line. That’s not going to cut it, and even if he is good defensively, his offensive limitations can keep him off the court.
Remember, he’s still a junior, so if he can take a leap as he did in his sophomore year, he can be a menace in the Big Ten and a huge boost to this team. However, if he can’t, then this time might have to play small, throwing a very raw Trevin Jirak at center or 6-9 Cam Manyawu.
Key statistic: Possessions per game
Most Iowa possessions went like this. Either A) they draw up a play using the first 20 seconds that ends in the desired shot at the end of the shot clock, or B) they let Bennett Stirtz do his thing and make an impressive iso shot at the end of the shot clock. That resulted in the least number of possessions per game in college basketball, with 64.3. Last year, when McCollum was at Drake, they finished in the same place, so don’t expect anything different.
It’ll be interesting to see how the offense looks with Stirtz gone and not being able to set them up in these situations. We know that they’ll be good defensively, which will keep them in every game, especially with the limited possessions, but on the other end, how will the Iowa basketball offense perform in this new era? From and Xs and Os standpoint, McCollum is one of the best in the game, so expect the answer to be positive.
Iowa basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 10th in the Big Ten
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Exit