Taking stock of Iowa’s 2025-26 rotation as the portal opens

It’s that time of year again. When the door on the season closes, the window of the portal opens. So far, there’s been no official movement among the Iowa Hawkeyes, though that could change. But the current state of Iowa’s roster is … pretty good all things considered.

As JP noted, the Hawks lose 3 guys through graduation, though Tavion Banks could find another year given how juco seasons have been wiped out with court decisions. Bennett Stirtz leaves a 40 MPG hole, of course, but Brendan Hausen’s on court contributions were small. Credit to Ben McCollum’s roster building for not coming over from Drake with a rotation full of seniors which will require total replacement. So Iowa can be very selective in who they bring aboard.

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Point Guard

Kael Combs was one of the unsung heroes of this season. He was among the biggest question marks I had when he came over, as he played just 13 minutes a game at Drake, which was barely a step up from his minutes at Wyoming. While his scoring was at just 6.1 PPG, he did not serve as a true shooting guard alongside Stirtz but often ran the show while Stirtz operated off ball, tallying 2.4 assists/game to 1.4 turnovers.

The biggest step forward Combs can have is simply in consistency. There’s no greater demonstration of this than how filled the gaps in the tournament. His 15 points in the opener against Clemson were perhaps the reason Iowa advanced in an absolute slog of a game. But he scored just 17 points in Iowa’s other 3 games (though he dished 13 assists to just 4 turnovers). He played excellent defense throughout.

With the loss of Stirtz, it’s natural to say this is a position of need in the portal. But where McCollum goes will give us a sense of what he’s looking for out of PG more broadly. Tyler Tachman dove deep into past point guards McCollum has had and the results are substantial. This feels a bit like a season before a season, though, with the Hawks searching for a guy with a year or maybe two who can…

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Publish date : 2026-04-08 11:35:00

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