Iowa City Today

Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball will begin its 2025-26 regular season on Tuesday, November 4, facing Robert Morris at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on BTN, with radio coverage provided by the Hawkeye Radio Network.

The Hawkeyes enter the season under new head coach Ben McCollum, who is leading a roster that features 12 newcomers out of 14 players. Six of these players followed McCollum from Drake University, where they achieved a 31-4 record last season and reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa's transfer portal class has been ranked eighth nationally by 247Sports.

Among the notable additions are Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras. Stirtz was named to both the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List and several preseason All-America teams, including CBS Sports and Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He is also on the NABC Division I National Player of the Year Watch List. Folgueiras, who transferred from Robert Morris after two seasons, earned Horizon League Player of the Year honors last year and has been named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List.

Iowa is receiving votes in both preseason Associated Press and Coaches’ rankings, placing them at 37th in the AP poll and 39th in the Coaches’ poll. The team has won its last 13 regular season openers and will play its first five games at home this season.

Robert Morris finished their previous campaign with a 26-9 overall record, winning both Horizon League regular season and tournament titles. The Colonials bring three returnees and have added transfers from Arkansas State, Cal State Fullerton, and Chipola College.

Ben McCollum returns to his home state as Iowa’s head coach. Born in Iowa City and raised in Spirit Lake, he previously coached four NCAA Division II National Championship teams at Northwest Missouri State. Since winning his first NCAA title in 2017, McCollum’s teams have accumulated a record of 284-25 over nine seasons.

CBS Sports highlighted McCollum as one of college basketball’s top hires for 2025: "One of the questions -- who is the best hire of the 2025 hiring cycle? Twenty-five percent of the nearly 100 coaches answered Iowa head coach Ben McCollum."

Other staff changes include assistant coach Luke Barnwell joining after two years at Texas Tech, where he helped guide that program to an Elite Eight appearance during the last season.

Senior Brendan Hausen joins as a proven shooter with experience at Villanova and Kansas State; he made ninety three-pointers last year for K-State. Senior guard/forward Tavion Banks comes off earning MVC Sixth Man of the Year honors while at Drake.

Redshirt freshman Cooper Koch is Iowa's only returning scholarship player from last year's roster; he played ten games before being sidelined due to medical reasons but averaged nearly five points per game while shooting efficiently from long range.

Iowa leads Robert Morris in their all-time series history (1-0), having won their only previous meeting during the 2006-07 season. The Hawkeyes are undefeated against current Horizon League members with a record of fifteen wins.