2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Acrisure Classic champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	22–12 (10–10 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ben McCollum (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Bryston Williams (1st season); Luke Barnwell (1st season); Josh Sash (1st season); Connor Wheeler (1st season);
Home arena	Carver–Hawkeye Arena

2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Michigan	19	–	1	.950	32	–	3	.914
No. 15 Nebraska	15	–	5	.750	27	–	6	.818
No. 11 Michigan State	15	–	5	.750	26	–	7	.788
No. 13 Illinois	15	–	5	.750	25	–	8	.758
No. 19 Wisconsin	14	–	6	.700	24	–	11	.686
UCLA	13	–	7	.650	24	–	11	.686
No. 8 Purdue †	13	–	7	.650	28	–	8	.778
Ohio State	12	–	8	.600	21	–	13	.618
Iowa	10	–	10	.500	22	–	12	.647
Indiana	9	–	11	.450	18	–	14	.563
Minnesota	8	–	12	.400	15	–	17	.469
USC	7	–	13	.350	18	–	14	.563
Washington	7	–	13	.350	16	–	17	.485
Rutgers	6	–	14	.300	14	–	19	.424
Northwestern	5	–	15	.250	15	–	19	.441
Oregon	5	–	15	.250	12	–	20	.375
Maryland	4	–	16	.200	12	–	21	.364
Penn State	3	–	17	.150	12	–	20	.375

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 20, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represents the University of Iowa during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by first-year head coach Ben McCollum, play their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Hawkeyes finished the 2024–25 season 17–16, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a five-way tie for twelfth place. As the No. 15 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they beat Ohio State in the first round,^[1] before losing to Illinois in the quarterfinals.^[2] The loss would be the final game of the season and the final game for Fran McCaffery as head coach at Iowa, as the Hawkeyes opted out of postseason play following the firing of McCaffery.^[3]

On March 14, 2025, the school fired head coach Fran McCaffery.^[4] On March 24, the school hired Drake head coach Ben McCollum to be their next head coach.^[5]

Offseason

Departures

Iowa departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Even Brauns	0	F	6'9"	245	GS Senior	Iowa City, IA	Graduated
Brock Harding	2	G	6'0"	162	Sophomore	Moline, IL	Transferred to TCU
Drew Thelwell	3	G	6'3"	195	GS Senior	Orlando, FL	Graduated
Josh Dix	4	G	6'5"	200	Junior	Council Bluffs, IA	Transferred to Creighton
Trey Buchanan	5	G	6'1"	180	Freshman	Westfield, IN	Walk-on; transferred to South Dakota State
Seydou Traore	7	F	6'7"	215	Sophomore	New York City, NY	Transferred to Utah
Ladji Dembele	13	F	6'8"	250	Sophomore	Newark, NJ	Transferred to UNLV
Carter Kingsbury	14	G	6'4"	225	RS Junior	Ponca, NE	Walk-on; transferred to The Citadel
Payton Sandfort	20	F	6'7"	215	Senior	Waukee, IA	Graduated
Pryce Sandfort	24	F	6'6"	205	Sophomore	Waukee, IA	Transferred to Nebraska
Luc Laketa	25	G	6'5"	185	Senior	Concord, MI	Walk-on; left the team
Owen Freeman	32	F	6'10"	230	Sophomore	Moline, IL	Transferred to Creighton
Chris Tadjo	34	F	6'8"	220	Freshman	Montreal, Quebec	Transferred to Santa Clara
Riley Mulvey	44	F	6'10"	230	RS Junior	Rotterdam, NY	Transferred to Siena
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu		F	6'7"	220	Freshman	Minneapolis, MN	Transferred to St. Thomas (MN)

Incoming transfers

Iowa incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Cam Manyawu	3	F	6'9"	250	Junior	Kansas City, MO	Drake
Tavion Banks	6	G/F	6'7"	215	Senior	Kansas City, MO	Drake
Alvaro Folgueiras	7	F	6'10"	230	Junior	Málaga, Spain	Robert Morris
Kael Combs	11	G	6'4"	205	Junior	Nixa, MO	Drake
Bennett Stirtz	14	G	6'4"	190	Senior	Liberty, MO	Drake
Brendan Hausen	15	G	6'4"	220	Senior	Amarillo, TX	Kansas State
Isaia Howard	23	G	6'5"	215	Sophomore	Plattsburg, MO	Drake
Joey Matteoni	44	F	6'9"	220	RS Freshman	Overland Park, KS	Drake

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Trevin Jirak C	West Des Moines, Iowa	Valley High School	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	260 lb (120 kg)	Apr 11, 2025
Trevin Jirak C	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Tate Sage SF	Weatherford, Oklahoma	Weatherford High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Apr 30, 2025
Tate Sage SF	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking: Rivals: NR 247Sports: 39 ESPN: —
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Iowa 2025 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. Retrieved June 27, 2025. "2025 Iowa Hawkeyes Recruiting Class". ESPN. Retrieved June 27, 2025. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

2026 recruiting class

There are no current recruits for 2026.

Roster

2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	3	Cam Manyawu	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	Drake	Kansas City, MO
G	5	Peyton McCollum (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Waukee Northwest HS	Maryville, MO
G/F	6	Tavion Banks	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Drake	Kansas City, MO
F	7	Alvaro Folgueiras	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Robert Morris	Málaga, Spain
F	8	Cooper Koch	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Fr	Metamora Township HS	Peoria, IL
G	10	Jacob Koch (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Iowa City West HS	Iowa City, IA
G	11	Kael Combs	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Drake	Nixa, MO
G	14	Bennett Stirtz	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Drake	Liberty, MO
G	15	Brendan Hausen	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Kansas State	Amarillo, TX
F	20	Trey Thompson (W)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Greeneville HS	Greeneville, TN
G	23	Isaia Howard	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Drake	Plattsburg, MO
G/F	24	Tate Sage	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Weatherford HS	Weatherford, OK
C	27	Trevin Jirak	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Fr	Valley HS	West Des Moines, IA
F	44	Joey Matteoni	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Fr	Drake	Overland Park, KS

Head coach

Ben McCollum (Northwest Missouri State)

Assistant coach(es)

Bryston Williams (Northwest Missouri State)
Luke Barnwell (Newman)
Josh Sash (William Penn)
Connor Wheeler (SIU Edwardsville)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN		Robert Morris	W 101–69	1–0	19 – Stirtz	5 – Tied	6 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,232) Iowa City, IA
November 7, 2025* 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Western Illinois	W 77–58	2–0	24 – Stirtz	5 – Folgueiras	7 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,978) Iowa City, IA
November 14, 2025* 7:00 p.m., FS1		Xavier	W 81–62	3–0	21 – Stirtz	9 – Manyawu	4 – Combs	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,678) Iowa City, IA
November 18, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN		Southeast Missouri State	W 99–70	4–0	16 – Folgueiras	5 – Tied	9 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,302) Iowa City, IA
November 20, 2025* 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Chicago State Acrisure Series on-campus game	W 93–54	5–0	16 – Banks	10 – Banks	6 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,265) Iowa City, IA
November 25, 2025* 8:30 p.m., CBSSN		vs. Ole Miss Acrisure Classic semifinal	W 74–69	6–0	29 – Stirtz	10 – C. Koch	2 – Tied	Acrisure Arena Palm Desert, CA
November 26, 2025* 8:30 p.m., CBSSN		vs. Grand Canyon Acrisure Classic championship game	W 59–46	7–0	19 – Howard	6 – Tied	5 – Stirtz	Acrisure Arena Palm Desert, CA
December 2, 2025 6:00 p.m., Peacock		at No. 7 Michigan State	L 52–71	7–1 (0–1)	14 – Stirtz	6 – Manyawu	4 – Stirtz	Breslin Student Events Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
December 6, 2025 3:00 p.m., FS1		Maryland	W 83–64	8–1 (1–1)	25 – Stirtz	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,956) Iowa City, IA
December 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 4 Iowa State Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series	L 62–66	8–2	14 – Banks	6 – Manyawu	4 – Stirtz	Hilton Coliseum (14,267) Ames, IA
December 14, 2025* 2:00 p.m., BTN		Western Michigan	W 91–51	9–2	13 – Tied	6 – Tied	6 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,341) Iowa City, IA
December 20, 2025* 5:00 p.m., BTN		vs. Bucknell	W 94–39	10–2	17 – Folgueiras	9 – Banks	6 – Stirtz	Casey's Center (8,177) Des Moines, IA
December 29, 2025* 4:00 p.m., BTN	No. 25	UMass Lowell	W 90–62	11–2	22 – Stirtz	9 – Manyawu	8 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,324) Iowa City, IA
January 3, 2026 5:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 25	UCLA	W 74–61	12–2 (2–1)	27 – Stirtz	6 – Manyawu	5 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,657) Iowa City, IA
January 6, 2026 7:00 p.m., BTN	No. 19	at Minnesota	L 67–70	12–3 (2–2)	21 – Stirtz	8 – Manyawu	3 – Koch	Williams Arena (8,976) Minneapolis, MN
January 11, 2026 11:00 a.m., FOX	No. 19	No. 16 Illinois Rivalry	L 69–75	12–4 (2–3)	16 – Banks	8 – Folgueiras	6 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (13,559) Iowa City, IA
January 14, 2026 5:30 p.m., BTN		at No. 5 Purdue	L 72–79	12–5 (2–4)	19 – Stirtz	5 – Combs	4 – Stirtz	Mackey Arena (14,876) West Lafayette, IN
January 17, 2026 1:00 p.m., FOX		at Indiana	W 74–57	13–5 (3–4)	27 – Stirtz	8 – Banks	5 – Stirtz	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN
January 20, 2026 7:30 p.m., BTN		Rutgers	W 68–62	14–5 (4–4)	20 – Stirtz	8 – Howard	5 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,778) Iowa City, IA
January 28, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN		USC	W 73–72	15–5 (5–4)	20 – Tied	7 – Banks	4 – Combs	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,512) Iowa City, IA
February 1, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1		at Oregon	W 84–66	16–5 (6–4)	32 – Stirtz	8 – Folgueiras	7 – Stirtz	Matthew Knight Arena (5,807) Eugene, OR
February 4, 2026 10:00 p.m., BTN		at Washington	W 84–74	17–5 (7–4)	22 – Stirtz	5 – Manyawu	5 – Stirtz	Alaska Airlines Arena (6,904) Seattle, WA
February 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., FS1		Northwestern	W 76–70	18–5 (8–4)	36 – Stirtz	7 – Banks	3 – Folgueiras	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,474) Iowa City, IA
February 11, 2026 5:00 p.m., FS1		at Maryland	L 70–77	18–6 (8–5)	32 – Stirtz	8 – Banks	6 – Stirtz	Xfinity Center (12,055) College Park, MD
February 14, 2026 4:00 p.m., FOX		No. 13 Purdue	L 57–78	18–7 (8–6)	19 – Stirtz	8 – Manyawu	4 – Howard	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,998) Iowa City, IA
February 17, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN		No. 9 Nebraska	W 57–52	19–7 (9–6)	25 – Stirtz	10 – Banks	2 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,483) Iowa City, IA
February 22, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 24 Wisconsin	L 71–84	19–8 (9–7)	23 – Stirtz	7 – Tied	4 – Folgueiras	Kohl Center (16,838) Madison, WI
February 25, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN		Ohio State	W 74–57	20–8 (10–7)	22 – Stirtz	7 – Manyawu	5 – Folgueiras	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,368) Iowa City, IA
February 28, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN		at Penn State	L 69–71	20–9 (10–8)	18 – Koch	7 – Manyawu	5 – Stirtz	Bryce Jordan Center (6,922) State College, PA
March 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock		No. 3 Michigan	L 68–71	20–10 (10–9)	21 – Stirtz	8 – Manyawu	4 – Stirtz	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (13,854) Iowa City, IA
March 8, 2026 4:00 p.m., FOX		at No. 9 Nebraska	L 75–84 ^OT	20–11 (10–10)	18 – Tied	7 – Banks	6 – Folgueiras	Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
Big Ten Tournament
March 11, 2026 11:00 a.m., Peacock/NBCSN	(9)	vs. (17) Maryland Second round	W 75–64	21–11	19 – Koch	6 – Stirtz	8 – Stirtz	United Center (15,661) Chicago, IL
March 12, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN	(9)	vs. (8) Ohio State Third round	L 69–72	21–12	17 – Stirtz	7 – Folgueiras	4 – Stirtz	United Center (16,157) Chicago, IL
NCAA Tournament
March 20, 2026 5:50 p.m., TNT	(9 S)	vs. (8 S) Clemson First Round	W 67–61	22–12	16 – Stirtz	10 – Manyawu	2 – Stirtz	Benchmark International Arena (20,112) Tampa, FL
March 22, 2026 6:10 p.m., TBS	(9 S)	vs. (1 S) No. 4 Florida Second Round						Benchmark International Arena Tampa, FL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[6]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP^[7]	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25*	19	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	23	25	23	23	19	23	RV	25т	RV	25	RV	RV	—	—	—

References

^ "Harding hits late 3 to help Iowa pull away and beat Ohio State 77-70 in a Big Ten Tournament opener". ESPN.com. March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
^ "Kylan Boswell scores 24 points to help No. 24 Illinois beat Iowa 106-94 in Big Ten tourney". ESPN.com. March 13, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ Tachman, Tyler (March 15, 2025). "Iowa basketball won't participate in postseason tournament following Fran McCaffery departure". Hawk Central. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ Thamel, Pete; Borzello, Jeff (March 14, 2025). "Iowa dismisses head coach Fran McCaffery after 15 seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ Thamel, Pete; Borzello, Jeff (March 24, 2025). "Iowa hires Drake's Ben McCollum as men's basketball coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
^ "2025–26 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE". Iowa Hawkeyes. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
^ "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved October 14, 2025.

[1] "Harding hits late 3 to help Iowa pull away and beat Ohio State 77-70 in a Big Ten Tournament opener". ESPN.com. March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025.

[2] "Kylan Boswell scores 24 points to help No. 24 Illinois beat Iowa 106-94 in Big Ten tourney". ESPN.com. March 13, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

[3] Tachman, Tyler (March 15, 2025). "Iowa basketball won't participate in postseason tournament following Fran McCaffery departure". Hawk Central. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

[4] Thamel, Pete; Borzello, Jeff (March 14, 2025). "Iowa dismisses head coach Fran McCaffery after 15 seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

[5] Thamel, Pete; Borzello, Jeff (March 24, 2025). "Iowa hires Drake's Ben McCollum as men's basketball coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

[6] "2025–26 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE". Iowa Hawkeyes. Retrieved June 30, 2025.

[7] "AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Poll". AP News. Retrieved October 14, 2025.

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[5]

[6]

[7]

Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Venues	Close Hall (1901–1904) First Iowa Armory (1905–1922) Second Iowa Armory (1922–1926) Iowa Field House (1927–1983) Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1983–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) Illinois
Culture & lore	"Iowa Fight Song" Herky the Hawk Gambling scandal First 5-on-5 college basketball game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1892–93 1893–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–1901 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics