Iowa Hawkeyes Make Exciting Offer to Elite 5-Star Recruit

The Iowa Hawkeyes have extended an offer to one of the best recruits in the nation.

Ben McCollum, Iowa's new head men's basketball coach, walks to the podium during 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 Iowa Hawkeyes' basketball program is suddenly developing into a force on the recruiting trail, and it's thanks to new head coach Ben McCollum.

When McCollum took the Iowa job back in late March, the cupboard was pretty bare. The Hawkeyes were coming off of a disappointing campaign and had just fired long-time coach Fran McCaffery, which led to the vast majority of the roster transferring. Iowa also lost all of its recruits.

Fast forward to now, and McCollum has done a tremendous job rebuilding the roster, making some terrific moves in the transfer portal while also securing commitments from numerous impressive prospects on the recruiting trail.

Well, the Hawkeyes just geared up to swing even bigger, as they have made an offer to five-star class of 2027 guard Cayden Daughtry.

Daughtry is the third-ranked point guard and the 19th-ranked player in the country overall, via 247 Sports' composite rankings. He is also the No. 3 player in the state of Florida.

The 5-foot-11 speedster averaged 20.5 points, 3.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game during his freshman season at Calvary Christian Academy in 2024-25.

That McCollum is already getting ahead of the curve by trying to add pieces to his 2027 recruiting class is definitely wise considering how quickly players like Daughtry get snatched up.

Iowa went just 17-16 last year, going 7-13 in Big Ten conference play. It missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season after qualifying three years in a row.

Meanwhile, McCollum led the Drake Bulldogs to a 31-4 mark last year, leading them to a first-round win in the Big Dance.

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