Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa Wins Big In Transfer Portal With James Madison OL

Hours after losing Koen Entringer, the Iowa Hawkeyes secured a big win in the transfer portal.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Nov 22, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz enters Kinnick Stadium before the game against the Michigan State Spartans. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Nov 22, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz enters Kinnick Stadium before the game against the Michigan State Spartans. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

The Joe Moore Award proved the Iowa Hawkeyes had the best offensive line for the 2025 season.

In the years to come, Iowa is looking to replicate that success. It's going to be extremely hard to do without Rimington Trophy Winner Logan Jones, Beau Stephens or even Gennings Dunker.

That said, Iowa found a huge reinforcement in the transfer portal. James Madison offensive lineman Trent Wilson pledged his commitment to Iowa after entering the portal not too long ago.

Wilson comes to the Hawkeyes with a ton of experience. He played 11 games for the Dukes this past season and visited with Iowa on January 5-6. Clearly, whatever head coach Kirk Ferentz said worked as the team was able to land Wilson immediately.

Iowa Wins Big With Trent Wilson

Even though Wilson only made one start this season, that's still quite impressive knowing he was a freshman. Keep in mind, this is the same James Madison team that made the college football playoffs. Wilson will be coming in off a season where he played 382 snaps and competed against Oregon in the first round of the CFP.

Not even Iowa was able to beat the Ducks this season, though they sure put up a fight. Wilson will join the team with some experience against a B1G opponent as Ferentz and company anticipate he'll be with the program for years to come. This is a huge win for Iowa's offensive line, one that is adding a young star after losing arguably their top three players who all graduated.

G5 Hive placed the 6'4'' 300-pound interior lineman on their Freshman All-American list. While that is an unrecognized honor, it still goes to show how much of an impression he made in his first season with JMU. Sadly for the Dukes, they're losing a ton of star power to the transfer portal.

Iowa Continues To Rebuild Their Offensive Line

Everyone knew you couldn't replace Jones, Stephens, or Dunker over night, but this is a huge step in the right direction. Offensive lineman and defensive players were a huge focal point in this portal, and with safety Koen Entringer leaving, that became much more of a priority.

Either way, adding Wilson was a huge boost of confidence after Entringer decided to walk earlier in the day. It's impossible to compare those two players, but the point still stands that Iowa is doing everything in their power to win big in the portal this offseason.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

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