Iowa Hawkeyes Snatch Top Recruit from In-State Opponent

The Iowa Hawkeyes have stolen away a top recruit from an in-state school.

Ben McCollum, Iowa's new head men's basketball coach, speaks 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

Ben McCollum has certainly been busy in the early stages of his tenure as Iowa Hawkeyes head coach, stealing away some players from his old Drake Bulldogs squad via the transfer portal and now making waves as a recruiter.

McCollum landed his first high-school recruit of the offseason this week, stealing way center Trevin Jirak after Jirak had already committed to Northern Iowa. The 6-foot-10 big man made the announcement on social media.

Go Hawks! #committed pic.twitter.com/uqK9dTldL4
— Trevin Jirak (@Trevin_jirak20) April 11, 2025

Jirak played his high-school basketball at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Ia. and is coming off of a season in which he averaged 16.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game on 59.2/38.6/71.2 shooting splits, so he clearly has the ability to spread the floor.

He also led his school to three straight state championships to conclude his high-school career and was named the 2024-25 Iowa MaxPreps Player of the Year.

Jirak is a three-star recruit and is the top-ranked player in the state of Iowa for the class of 2025.

This is obviously a major recruiting win for the Hawkeyes, who are attempting to re-establish themselves as a threatening program after missing the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons. That followed a stretch in which Iowa made the Big Dance three years in a row.

The Hawkeyes went just 17-16 and finished 7-13 in Big Ten conference play this past season, resulting in the firing of Fran McCaffery after 15 years at the helm.

Meanwhile, McCollum just led Drake to a 31-4 mark and a first-round NCAA Tournament win.

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