Iowa
Connor Wheeler Added to Men's Basketball Staff
Iowa has hired Connor Wheeler, former Drake assistant, to Ben McCollum‘s new men’s basketball staff in Iowa City.
“Connor is a great up-and-coming coach,” McCollum said in a release. “His career path has been fast and rightfully so. He’s very talented and will continue to hone his skills at the University of Iowa. He will help us get to a championship level.”
Wheeler has eight years of coaching experience at Drake (2024-25), Southeast Missouri State (2022-24), Southern Illinois (2019-22), Southern Miss (2018-19) and Missouri (2016-18).
Prior to his lone year at Drake, where the Bulldogs set a program record with 31 wins and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, he spent two seasons at SEMO. While there, he helped guide the program to its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth. It was the first NCAA appearance in more than 20 years.
Before his two years in Cape Girardeau, Wheeler spent three seasons on staff in his hometown of Carbondale, Illinois, working with Southern Illinois under Bryan Mullins, who is now an assistant at DePaul.
During the 2018-19 season, Wheeler was video coordinator at Southern Miss and he also coordinated video as a graduate assistant at Missouri from 2016-18.
As a player, Wheeler was a member of the Final Four team in 2011-12 at Illinois Wesleyan, he was an all-conference and all-region selection at John A. Logan College, he won a Division II National Championship in 2014 at Central Missouri, and he finished his career at Division I Southern Illinois Edwardsville in 2015-16.
“My wife and I couldn’t be more excited to join the University of Iowa family,” Wheeler said. “This program has a rich history, an incredible fan base and a culture of hard work and dedication. I’m excited to recruit and develop exceptional young men that will make Hawkeye nation proud. I’m honored to be a part of this program and can’t wait to get to work.”
Iowa
Person drowns at Coralville pool
CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – Coralville Police say a person has drowned at the Coralville Aquatic Center Tuesday afternoon.
The call went out shortly after 4 p.m. to 1513 7th Street for a drowning report.
Officers, lifeguards and paramedics gave lifesaving aid to the person. They were taken to the University of Iowa Health Care, where they were pronounced dead.
The identity of the victim has not been released. The incident is under investigation.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Iowa City Man who ran over people in homeless encampment sentenced to nearly two decades in prison
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa City man who pleaded guilty to driving into five people at a homeless encampment last August has been sentenced to serve nearly two decades in prison.
On August 15, 2025, Roman Aguilar Ventura drove his vehicle while under the influence through an encampment near Shelter House, an organization that assists homeless people.
Ventura pleaded guilty to several charges in March, including Operating While Under the Influence, two counts of Willful Injury Resulting in Bodily Injury, and three counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. He also pleaded guilty to Driving While Barred and Driving While License Denied or Revoked.
In addition to his sentence, Ventura will also be subject to a six-year suspension of his drivers license, in addition to substance abuse treatment.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Where is Iowa State football placed in USA TODAY’s Big 12 rankings?
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers on transition so far to Ames
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers on transition so far to Ames and how it compares to the transitional offseason between SDSU and Washington St.
For the second straight year, the Big 12 Conference did not release preseason football rankings for the upcoming season, but that didn’t stop the USA TODAY Sports Network from making its own predicted order of finish for the 2026 season as well as a preseason All-Big 12 team.
Sports writers who cover the Big 12 throughout the network voted on the predicted order of finish for all 16 teams.
Iowa State lost the winningest coach in program history, Matt Campbell, and had a massive roster rebuild after finishing 8-4 last season. With a team loaded with more than 60 newcomers and a coach who is new to the power-conference level in Jimmy Rogers, the Cyclones were tabbed to finish in last place in the USA TODAY Sports’ preseason Big 12 rankings.
Texas Tech, which won its first Big 12 title in school history last season and reached the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, is projected to repeat and finish on top. BYU, which lost to the Red Raiders in the Big 12 championship game last season, is predicted to finish in second place. Utah, Houston and Arizona round out the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Network’s preseason Big 12 prediction.
For the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team, the Cyclones didn’t have any players selected, but they did have a few honorable mentions.
Running back Aiden Flora, kicker Kyle Konrardy and defensive end Isaac Terrell were chosen as honorable mentions for the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-Big 12 team.
Flora and Konrardy are returning All-Big 12 selections. Flora was an all-conference second-team returner last season, and Konrardy was named All-Big 12 honorable mention.
Terrell is one of the Cyclones’ promising newcomers. He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Line Top Performer of the Year and had a team-high seven sacks at Washington State last season.
2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Big 12 football preseason predicted order of finish
- Texas Tech
- BYU
- Utah
- Houston
- Arizona
- TCU
- Kansas State
- Arizona State
- Oklahoma State
- Baylor
- UCF
- Kansas
- Cincinnati
- West Virginia
- Colorado
- Iowa State
2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Preseason All-Big 12 award winners
Offensive Player of the Year: L.J. Martin, RB, BYU
(Also receiving votes: Noah Fifita, QB, Arizona; Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State; Amare Thomas, WR, Houston)
Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Roberts, LB, Texas Tech
(Also receiving votes: A.J. Holmes, DL, Texas Tech; Brice Pollock, DB, Texas Tech; Austin Romaine, LB, Texas Tech)
Newcomer of the Year: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State
(Also receiving votes: Caleb Hawkins, RB, Oklahoma State; Cam Cook, RB, West Virginia; Adam Trick, DL, Texas Tech)
2026 USA TODAY Sports Network Preseason All-Big 12 football team
Offense:
- QB: Noah Fifita, Arizona
- RB: L.J. Martin, BYU
- RB: Caleb Hawkins, Oklahoma State
- WR: Amare Thomas, Houston
- WR: Omarion Miller, Arizona State
- WR: Wyatt Young, Oklahoma State
- TE: Terrance Carter Jr., Texas Tech
- OL: Evan Tengesdahl, Cincinnati
- OL: Bruce Mitchell, BYU
- OL: Shadre Hurst, Houston
- OL: John Pastore, Kansas State
- OL: Howard Sampson, Texas Tech
Defense:
- DL: A.J. Holmes, Texas Tech
- DL: Wendell Gregory, Kansas State
- DL: Adam Trick, Texas Tech
- DL: Mateen Ibirogba, Texas Tech
- LB: Ben Roberts, Texas Tech
- LB: Austin Romaine, Texas Tech
- LB: Cade Uluave, BYU
- DB: Brice Pollock, Texas Tech
- DB: Faletau Satuala, BYU
- DB: Jamel Johnson, TCU
- DB: Will James, Houston
Special teams:
- K: Stone Harrington, Texas Tech
- P: Palmer Williams, Baylor
- KR/PR: J’Koby Williams, Texas Tech
Honorable mentions:
- Arizona: DB Jay’vion Cole; LB Taye Brown
- Arizona State: WR Reed Harris, DL CJ Fite
- BYU: QB Bear Bachmeier, DL Keanu Tanuvasa, LB Isaiah Glasker, DB Evan Johnson
- Cincinnati: OL Joe Cotton, OL Taran Tyo, DB MJ Cannon, P Max Fletcher, K Stephen Rusnak
- Colorado: WR Danny Scudero, LB Gideon ESPN Lampron, KR Quentin Gibson
- Houston: OL Drew Terrill
- Iowa State: DL Isaac Terrell, K Kyle Konrady, KR Aiden Flora
- Kansas: DL Leroy Harris III, LB Trey Lathan, KR Dylan Edwards
- Kansas State: TE Garrett Oakley
- Oklahoma State: QB Drew Mestemaker, LB Ethan Wesloski
- TCU: WR Jordan Dwyer, OL Ben Taylor-Whitfield, P John Hoyet Chance
- Texas Tech: RB Cameron Dickey, WR Coy Eakin, WR Malcolm Simmons, OL Sheridan Wilson, DB Brenden Jordan, DL Trey White
- Utah: RB Wayshawn Parker, DB Jackson Bennee, KR Mana Carvalho
- West Virginia: RB Cam Cook, P Bryan Hansen
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
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