HOUSTON — For the second year in a row, Iowa basketball’s season ended with a loss to Illinois.
But the opponent was just about the only thing that felt the same about those two losses.
The Hawkeyes’ thrilling NCAA Tournament run came to a close one step short of the Final Four after falling to the Fighting Illini 71-59 on March 28. Iowa’s 2024-25 season ended at the hands of the same program after Illinois knocked off Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.
After Iowa’s 2025 Big Ten Tournament loss to Illinois, the future felt bleak. The program was firmly trending downward. Optimism was dwindling. The only real beacon of hope was that there would be a coaching change.
Everything about that is different now.
After Iowa’s loss to Illinois in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the future looks bright. The program is trending upward. Optimism is on the rise. Iowa has one of the most respected young minds in college basketball as its head coach.
As much as it hurts fans to know that Iowa’s inspiring run is over, there’s a firm belief in what the future could hold.
“I feel like this program is going to be a big program and everybody is going to look and know who Iowa is,” senior Tavion Banks said. “I believe the next two to three years — not even two to three years – next year, they’re going to be really good.”
Iowa just did not have a roster equipped to deal with a physically imposing Illinois team. The Fighting Illini hammered the Hawkeyes 38-21 on the boards, which included a 16-8 advantage on the offensive glass. That underscored Iowa’s need to add size this offseason.
Bennett Stirtz (24 points) and Keaton Wagler (25 points) were the stars of their respective teams, but Wagler’s supporting cast provided more help. The Fighting Illini had three players outside of Wagler score at least nine points. Meanwhile, Tate Sage was the only other Hawkeye in double figures. Iowa’s second- and third-leading scorers this season, Banks and Alvaro Folgueiras, combined for just five points on 1-of-10 from the field.
In a back-and-forth game, Illinois delivered a second-half blow that Iowa could not recover from. The Hawkeyes led by one with about 7 1/2 minutes to go, but the Fighting Illini then went on an 8-0 run to take a 58-51 lead.
That proved to be the knockout punch to Iowa’s 2025-26 season.
“We’ve got a lot of good guys coming back, a lot of hungry guys,” redshirt freshman Cooper Koch said. “No one’s really satisfied with this. Yeah, it was a really good season. But we don’t want to just get here. We wanted to make it further. This one definitely stung and we’re going to remember this.”
There’s a laundry list of reasons why this season can be categorized as a major success.
Iowa’s March Madness run broke barriers. The longer it went, the further back the record book turned. First NCAA Tournament win since 2021. First Sweet 16 since 1999. The first Elite Eight since 1987.
It felt like the weight of past NCAA Tournament failures was lifted off the program’s shoulders.
What makes it more impressive is where Iowa started. Ben McCollum took over a program that needed almost an entire overhaul and was tasked with re-energizing a fan base whose interest had been dwindling.
In one calendar year, everything has changed.
Despite entering Selection Sunday with a 3-7 record in its last 10 games, Iowa’s progress under McCollum was rewarded with the program’s first berth to the Big Dance since 2023. But the Hawkeyes’ remarkable NCAA Tournament run took belief to an entirely different level.
Setting up the program for future success was woven into the narrative of this season.
Iowa accomplished that and then some.
“I’m obviously very proud of the foundation that they’ve built,” McCollum said. “I think right afterwards you’re always disappointed. You wanted to win that game. But certainly understand what they’ve done for the University of Iowa, what they’ve done for this foundation, how much they’ve sacrificed for it, and then, obviously, to get them to this point, to an Elite Eight.”
As successful as McCollum has been in his coaching career, this is the farthest he has gotten in an NCAA Tournament while in his first season at a job. McCollum was a combined 22-31 in his first two seasons at Northwest Missouri State. He was 31-4 in his lone season at Drake, then lost in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
After an uninspiring start to his tenure at Northwest Missouri State, McCollum went on to win four Division II national titles. McCollum’s first season at Iowa exceeded his first at Northwest Missouri State — and it’s not even close.
What does that improved starting point mean for the heights McCollum could reach at Iowa?
Stirtz, a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, leaves big shoes to fill. Banks, whose future is unclear (he could be granted more eligibility because he previously played at the junior college level), would be another sizeable loss if he does not return.
But the Hawkeyes have the potential to return a variety of rotational players in Cam Manyawu, Kael Combs, Alvaro Folgueiras, Tate Sage, Cooper Koch and Isaia Howard. Not to mention 6-foot-11 Trevin Jirak, who has potential but was in a limited role as a freshman, and Trey Thompson, a former four-star recruit who redshirted his first season with the Hawkeyes.
Iowa has some roster holes to fill ahead of next season, but there is already a solid nucleus in place.
“I think when you have, obviously, Bennett (Stirtz) and Tavion (Banks) and Brendan (Hausen) kind of teaching those guys how to be a winner in a lot of ways, it’ll carry us into the future of that,” McCollum said. “And so, that’s kind of the foundation, that you’re just laying groundwork of what it’s like to be a Hawkeye, what it’s like to be in our program consistently, how you’re supposed to act, et cetera et cetera. And then you have some success, so you see that it works. You see that the formula works.”
It was a thrilling NCAA Tournament ride. Folgueiras’ game-winning 3-pointer to stun 1-seed Florida. A resilient performance to send rival Nebraska home. Hanging with Illinois deep into the second half.
Yes, this is the end of Iowa’s first season under McCollum. But if the Hawkeyes do things right, this can be the start of something even bigger.
“That’s what it’s all about: Bringing joy to everybody,” Manyawu said of what Iowa’s NCAA Tournament run meant to Iowa fans. “It’s a game at the end of the day. So, making sure we have fun, bringing joy to our fans. I know that the program hasn’t been exactly where they’ve wanted. Just to come in year one and try and elevate it as much as we can and build off this and continue elevating even further.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Despite Elite 8 loss, Iowa basketball’s future is bright
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
