Iowa
Iowa basketball: New coach Ben McCollum tasked with replenishing depleted Hawkeyes roster
Ben McCollum on Drake basketball’s loss to Texas Tech in NCAA Tournament
Ben McCollum breaks down Drake basketball’s loss to Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament and reflects on his 31-win season with the Bulldogs.
IOWA CITY — When Iowa and Ben McCollum agreed to make him the school’s next men’s basketball coach, just a few scholarship players remained on the Hawkeyes’ roster.
Four to be exact, as of Monday morning. Carter Kingsbury, Seydou Traore, Isaiah Johson-Arigu and Chris Tadjo.
McCollum, the former Northwest Missouri State and Drake head coach, is replacing Fran McCaffery as the leader of the Hawkeyes program. The development comes shortly after McCollum’s Drake Bulldogs were bounced from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
McCollum takes the reins of an Iowa roster that has mostly dwindled. It’s difficult to blame Iowa players for examining their options when there literally wasn’t a head coach in place.
As John Calipari quipped after taking the Arkansas job in 2024, “I met with the team, there is no team.”
Iowa isn’t quite in that territory. But McCollum does have a significant amount of work ahead of him to get Iowa’s roster intact for the 2025-26 season.
Iowa is tasked with reconstructing the roster in a way that the program hasn’t been accustomed to. It will likely be much more reliant on the transfer portal — whether that be via Drake, re-recruiting Iowa players, or adding firepower from elsewhere.
Iowa’s philosophy under McCaffery was pretty clear. The Hawkeyes would build the foundation of the program through the high school ranks and filled holes through the transfer portal when needed.
Here’s a look at Iowa’s (scholarship) transfer portal additions in recent years:
- One ahead of the 2021-22 season (Filip Rebraca)
- Two ahead of the 2023-24 season (Ben Krikke and Even Brauns)
- Two ahead of the 2024-25 seasons (Drew Thelwell and Traore)
- One during the 2024-25 season (Johnson-Arigu)
In the modern landscape of roster movement, Iowa was able to maintain a fairly high level of roster stability. The Hawkeyes have no choice but to take a different approach now.
Before any additional departures, the Hawkeyes were already set to lose a few players who had exhausted their college eligibility. That trio came in the form of Payton Sandfort, Thelwell and Brauns, all of whom played roles on Iowa’s 2024-25 team to varying degrees.
As of Monday morning, seven Iowa players had decided to enter the transfer portal since the departure of McCaffery — Owen Freeman, Brock Harding, Pryce Sandfort, Riley Mulvey, Josh Dix, Cooper Koch and Ladji Dembele.
Sandfort, Koch and Dembele have publicly left the door open for a return to Iowa.
Joshua Lewis and Dezmon Briscoe, two members of Iowa’s 2025 high school class, have re-opened their recruitments. Lewis was one of the top high school prospects to commit to the program in the modern recruiting era.
Drake men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum reflects on job rumors
Drake lost to Texas Tech, 77-64, in the second round of the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball March Madness tournament. Drake coach Ben McCollum has been a popular name for college basketball coach openings.
Iowa had seen roster turnover under McCaffery. But not to this degree. This is a new dilemma for the program, which was able to navigate the uncertain waters of an evolving landscape with the stability of a long-tenured head coach.
That changes now.
Hawkeye fans can find some solace in the fact that McCollum has been in a very similar situation. Roughly one year ago, in fact.
This is uncharted waters for the Iowa program, yes. But not for McCollum.
McCollum took over at Drake in 2024 and revamped the Bulldogs’ roster. More than half of the players on Drake’s 2024-25 squad (active or not) started their college careers at a different school. McCollum brought some from his previous home at Northwest Missouri State, including star Bennett Stirtz (who has a year of eligibility remaining). McCollum also landed transfers from Wyoming, Indiana State and Northwest Florida State College.
McCollum showed he could make that formula work. The Bulldogs finished the season 31-4 and were one of college basketball’s feel-good stories after making it one step short of the Sweet 16. Drake went 4-1 against power conference programs — with the lone loss coming to Texas Tech on Saturday.
“It’s a lot of work to get it to this point,” McCollum said after Drake’s loss to Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. “It’s a lot of sleepless nights. Lot of phone conversations trying to get players. And then trying to get guys to buy into something. Just have a level of blind faith. It’s hard.”
There could be at least some level of familiarity for those who choose to join the Hawkeyes’ 2025-26 roster. Whether that be with McCollum as a head coach or the University of Iowa. But as a unit, it won’t be the same level of continuity that the program has experienced in the recent past.
At least for one season, Iowa’s roster-building process will likely be more reflective of the modern times.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
Iowa
Penn State earns commitment from Iowa State leading wide receiver via transfer
Penn State landed Iowa State’s pair of quarterbacks earlier Sunday, including starter Rocco Becht, in a splash move. Now, the Cyclones’ leading receiver is coming with them.
Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen committed to Penn State via the transfer portal, becoming the seventh Cyclone to join the Nittany Lions this weekend. He announced the move on social media.
Eskildsen recorded 30 receptions, 526 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore in 2025. He also appeared in all 13 games as a freshman but made just two catches for 17 yards.
The 6-1, 200-pound wideout is from Frisco, Texas, and is a three-star in the 247Sports transfer rankings (No. 118 overall, No. 30 WR). He was a three-star out of high school as well, where he had more than 1,5000 career receiving yards.
Becht’s top man from 2026 is now in place. He’ll also be able to throw to standout Penn State freshman Koby Howard and quick youngster Tyseer Denmark, who have confirmed their returns thus far.
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Iowa
Iowa State picks up commitment from Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor
Iowa State football has picked up a commitment from Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Jan. 3.
Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot, 202-pounder from Kernersville, North Carolina, passed for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He was intercepted 11 times.
Raynor also rushed for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.
He passed for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State.
“The (Iowa State) coaching staff is known for winning,” Raynor told Thamel. “The head coach is a known winner and done it on multiple levels.”
Raynor will join Arkansas State offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf in Ames. Heckendorf was named Cyclones quarterbacks coach this week.
Raynor completed 19 of 33 passes for 222 yards in a 24-16 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 13, 2025.
Iowa
Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling
The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.
Drew Anderson (Riverside)
The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.
Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.
Cooper Hinz (Jesup)
Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.
Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)
Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.
Mason Koehler (Glenwood)
The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.
Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)
Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.
Keaton Moeller (Starmont)
Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
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