Iowa Hawkeyes Lose Top Transfer Target to Big Ten Opponent

The Iowa Hawkeyes have lost another transfer portal target, and this time, it was to a Big Ten opponent.

Mar 20, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; Drake Bulldogs head coach Ben McCollum in the second half of a first round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Missouri Tigers at Intrust Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been incredibly busy in the transfer portal this offseason, which has been a must to counter all of the players they lost to the portal following the firing of Fran McCaffery.

New head coach Ben McCollum has pilfered six players from his former Drake Bulldogs squad, but in terms of bagging players from other schools, his success rate has been rather pedestrian.

Case in point, Iowa had been targeted High Point Panthers guard Kezza Giffa earlier this offseason, as Gizza visited Iowa City back in late April. However, Gizza has now finalized his transfer destination, and it will not be with the Hawkeyes.

Gizza has decided to take his talents to a Big Ten opponent of Iowa's, committing to the USC Trojans, via Joe Tipton of On 3.

The Paris native actually began his collegiate career at UTEP back during the 2021-22 campaign, but barely played. That resulted in Gizza transferring to High Point.

Gizza experienced considerable success with the Panthers. During his first season of play at High Point in 2023-24, he averaged 16.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game on 40.7/34.0/88.3 shooting splits. Gizza then logged 14.6 points, 2.5 boards and 2.5 assists a night while shooting 44 percent from the floor, 31.3 percent from three-point range and 85.1 percent from the free-throw line.

The reason this is such a rough loss for the Hawkeyes is because of Gizza's free-throw rate, as he registered 7.6 and 5.5 foul shots per game, respectively, over his last couple of seasons.

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