Iowa
Is Former Iowa Hawkeyes Standout Becoming a Lost Cause?
The Iowa Hawkeyes are definitely more known for their football program rather than their basketball acumen, but they have placed a few players into the NBA recently.
Two of them were twin brothers: Keegan and Kris Murray.
While Keegan was certainly the more highly regarded of the two, Kris was still considered a solid prospect, which is why he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft.
Murray was a force at Iowa, playing both ends of the floor and establishing himself as one of the best all-around players in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, it has not gone that way for Murray in the pros.
The 24-year-old is now in his second NBA season and has shown very little signs of improvement. As as a matter of fact, he may have regressed this year, as he is averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds over 14.3 minutes per game on 44.1/24.2/41.3 shooting splits.
Yes, those shooting splits are ugly, and they don’t seem to be getting any better for Murray.
In fact, through eight games in March, the Hawkeyes product is shooting just 31.4 percent from the floor and a miserable 6.7 percent from three-point range.
Over his first two NBA campaigns, Murray is making just 25.9 percent of his long-distance tries and owns a paltry true-shooting percentage of 48.4 percent.
Is it still early in Murray’s career? Absolutely, but you would hope that he would have shown some sort of potential this year. Instead, he is actually playing less minutes as he continues to fall out of favor with Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
It’s getting to a point where Murray could be a lost cause, at least in terms of his offensive production. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him some good, but it seem hard to imagine that will suddenly fix his broken shot.
One thing about Murray is that he is a solid defender, so he has that working in his favor. But if he can’t corral his shot, it may be difficult for him to find consistent playing time anywhere moving forward.
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When it comes to the Iowa Hawkeyes 2026 football season, it doesn’t get much bigger than Ohio State coming to Kinnick Stadium.
No one knows at this stage where the Buckeyes will be come Oct. 3, but Iowa has a chance to make an early impression against a team that is no stranger to winning the big one.
Iowa’s B1G schedule couldn’t get off to a worse start as they head to Michigan and then welcome the Buckeyes to Kinnick.
Hopefully for Iowa’s sake, their first three games against Northern Illinois, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa are enough to get them prepared. If not, things could get ugly.
ESPN Believes Ohio State is Iowa’s Biggest Opponent in 2026
The Michigan game will certainly be a test, but hosting the Buckeyes is a different animal. That gives the Hawkeyes an advantage like no other, and if there was ever a time to give OSU a run for their money, it’s in Iowa City on Oct. 3.
“The Hawkeyes haven’t faced Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium since 2017, when Nate Stanley threw five touchdowns as they stunned the Buckeyes 55-24. An early October win over Ohio State could propel Iowa into the Big Ten title and playoff conversations,” Jake Trotter wrote.
To put things into perspective, Indiana and Oregon were the other two teams that had the Buckeyes listed as their defining game in the 2026 season. Shockingly, Iowa was actually selected against a team, that being Minnesota. Seeing as that’s for the Floyd of Rosedale, it makes complete sense.
Iowa Can’t Let Regular Season Opportunities Go To Waste
Last year was seemingly the Hawkeyes’ first time to actually make the College Football Playoffs. They came up short as their losses to No. 16 Iowa State, No. 11 Indiana, No. 9 Oregon and No. 17 USC all added up. Sure, those were by a combined 15 points, but that doesn’t matter, as it’s bad enough that a three-loss team made the playoffs.
Iowa ended with a bang as they took down No. 14 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl, 34-27. Now, all eyes are on either Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown. One of those men will have a chance to make their first B1G start at the Big House in Michigan.
It doesn’t get any tougher than that, as Iowa is immediately putting their new QB into deep water. They’ll have three games prior to that to get up to speed, but other than that, it’s go time as OSU awaits after their trip to Michigan.
Don’t forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!
MANCHESTER, Iowa — The state of Iowa lost a titan of the prep coaching world this week. Former Kee High School baseball coach Gene Schultz died on Monday at the age of 80.
Schultz spent 45 seasons as the baseball coach at Kee, helping turn the program into an Iowa dynasty. He won 9 State championships (not counting 2 fall titles, which the IHSAA doesn’t recognize in the record books), and took the Hawks to 19 State tournaments, which is also the most in Iowa history.
His 1,754 wins are not only the most in Iowa history, but the most of any high school baseball coach in the country.
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