Since arriving in Iowa City, Ben McCollum has been hard at work rebuilding a roster that lost much of its rotation to graduation or the transfer portal.
That includes bringing in Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz, sharpshooter Brendan Hausen and big man Alvaro Folgueiras. McCollum also signed a pair of recruits in the 2025 class: Trevin Jirak and Tate Sage. According to McCollum, the roster is not set for the 2025 season, however.
“Yeah definitely looking for one more. I think you’d like to. This time of year it’s tricky. You have to find the right pieces. There’s international, there’s the portal, then obviously re-classes. There’s a lot of different things that we’ll pursue,” McCollum said.
It’s unclear which direction McCollum and the Hawkeyes might go in the 2025 class if it’s a high school piece that could reclassify from the 2026 class.
McCollum has already hit the portal, bringing in eight transfers for the 2025 season. Some strong options remain in the portal, including four-star prospects Ali Dibba, Jamarii Thomas and Jalen Blackmon.
As McCollum mentioned, the international pool of players could be an avenue as well to fill that last roster spot. Regardless of where Iowa gets that final player, Hawkeye fans should have confidence in McCollum to fill that spot with a talented player who fits the style of play that he wants to run.
And with the current roster being what it is, the present and future look very bright for Iowa basketball.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa basketball ‘looking for one more’ piece ahead of 2025-26 season
Reporting by Zach Hiney, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
