For at least one Iowa player, the new era of Hawkeyes basketball begins against a familiar opponent.
Ben McCollum makes his Hawkeyes’ coaching debut, complete with some talented transfers, including Alvaro Folgueiras, who’ll face off against his former Robert Morris squad on Nov. 4, in Iowa City.
After going 36-31 and failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, Iowa moved on from longtime coach Fran McCaffery. Enter McCollum, who went 31-4 during his one season coaching Drake in 2024-25.
“When you take over a position, there’s naturally a great deal of excitement, and I think if you’re not careful, it can create a sense of arrival,” McCollum said.
“(Want to make) sure that we continue to have that edge, and don’t have a sense of arrival.”
Coming over from Drake along with McCollum is Bennett Stirtz, the Missouri Valley Conference’s player of the year, while averaging 19.2 points on 49.8 percent shooting to along with 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals last season. In addition, the 6-10 Folgueiras averaged 14.1 points and a team-leading 9.1 rebounds last season for Robert Morris, when it matched a program record with 26 wins, won both the Horizon League regular-season and tournament titles, and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
Minus the likes of Folgueiras, however, RMU is also relying on transfers to build off that success.
“Keep us on the same track,” sophomore transfer Ta’Zir Smith told the Colonials basketball program’s official Instagram page.
“At the end of the day we just want to get better. Be the best version of ourselves.”
RMU coach Andy Toole could rely on the IU Indy transfer DeSean Goode to help the Colonials do just that. Goode averaged 7.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 30 games, including 20 starts, as a freshman last season and was named to preseason second-team All-Horizon League selection for this campaign.
Dating to March 1982, Robert Morris is 0-19 versus Big Ten opponents. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes have won their last eight games versus Horizon League foes, since December 1980.
These programs last met in December 2005, with Iowa winning 73-51.
–Field Level Media
