Iowa Hawkeyes Land Intriguing Starting Lineup Projection

It's never too early to predict the Iowa Hawkeyes' starting five for next season's college basketball season, right?

Iowa head men's basketball coach Ben McCollum is pictured at his introductory press conference Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The winds of change have swept through Iowa City this offseason, as the Iowa Hawkeyes have undergone a massive makeover.

Iowa fired head coach Fran McCaffery following a disappointing 2024-25 campaign, replacing him with former Drake Bulldogs coach Ben McCollum.

This set off quite a chain reaction, as the Hawkeyes essentially lost their entire roster to the transfer portal, and they also watched as McCaffery's recruits also decommitted.

On the bright side, McCollum has been hard at work, bringing in a plethora of players via the transfer portal, including a bunch of his former players from Drake.

While the 2025-26 college basketball season is still eons away, Jordan Underwood of Dear Old Gold posted a piece projecting the Hawkeyes' starting lineup for next year, and literally every single player in the group of five is a transfer addition.

Underwood's starting five is as follows: Cam Manyawu, Alvaro Folgueiras, Tavion Banks, Brendan Hausen and Bennett Stirtz.

Three of those five players played under McCollum at Drake last season, with Stirtz winning the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award.

The other two — Folgueiras and Hausen — transferred over from Robert Morris and Kansas State, respectively.

McCollum guided the Bulldogs to a 31-4 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance this past year, even winning a first-round matchup.

Meanwhile, Iowa went just 17-16 under McCaffery, going a paltry 7-13 in Big Ten conference play. The Hawkeyes missed the Big dance for the second straight year after qualifying three straight seasons.

McCaffery had spent a decade-and-a-half at the helm for the Hawkeyes before being dismissed.

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