McCollum’s first portal season a big success

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MARCH 19: Andrew McKeever #45 of the Saint Mary's Gaels during the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Texas A&M Aggies held at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images The Iowa Hawkeyes have continued to ride the high of an Elite 8 into a strong start to the offseason. Ben McCollum minimized defections, addressed areas of need, and still have potentially more to go as the pages turn to the 2026-27 season.

Keep everyone on the bus A key factor with McCollum is the growth that can happen from year 1 to year 2 within the program. We saw that with guys like Kael Combs, Cam Manyawu, and Isaia Howard. While all three had modest stat lines, they rarely looked out of place despite the uptick in competition which speaks 1) to McCollum’s eye for talent and development and 2) the increased comfortability the guys had within the system.

Iowa did not have the growing pain of establishing a culture, as 6 former Bulldogs came to Iowa City to help set the tone in terms of what is expected under McCollum day-to-day, game-to-game. That showed on the court as Combs picked his spots in taking advantage of the attention Bennett Stirtz drew, most notably in the first round win over Clemson. Manyawu was a pest defensively despite being undersized (a hallmark of McCollum’s basketball) and a good short roll passer.

Howard is just an MMA fighter who masquerades as a basketball player. Love it. KenPom clocked Iowa’s continuity at 2.