The 2025–26 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hawkeyes, led by first-year head coach Ben McCollum, played their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Iowa opened the season with seven straight wins, including winning the Acrisure Classic. The team was ranked in the AP poll for three weeks before finishing the regular season with a 10–10 record in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes played as the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament. They defeated No. 17 seed Maryland in the second round before falling to No. 8 seed Ohio State, 72–69, in the third round.

The Hawkeyes received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the South region. Iowa defeated No. 8 seed Clemson 67–61 in the first round. In the second round, Iowa faced No. 1 seed and defending National champion Florida. With 4.5 seconds left, junior Alvaro Folgueiras made a game-winning 3-pointer to give the Hawkeyes the win, 73–72. The win sent Iowa to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. It was also Iowa's first victory over a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1980. In the regional semifinal, the Hawkeyes faced a familiar opponent in No. 4 seed Nebraska. Despite trailing for nearly the first 38 minutes of the game, Iowa took the lead with 2:11 remaining on a 3-pointer from Bennett Stirtz and never trailed again, en route to a 77–71 victory. The win moved the Hawkeyes into the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987. In the South region final, Iowa faced another Big Ten opponent in No. 3 seed Illinois. The Hawkeyes jumped to an early double-digit lead and led by four at halftime. After numerous second-half lead changes, the Illini pulled away late and prevailed 71–59, ending Iowa's season with a 24–13 record.

Previous season The Hawkeyes finished the 2024–25 season 17–16, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a five-way tie for twelfth place. As the No. 15 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they beat Ohio State in the first round, before losing to Illinois in the quarterfinals. The loss would be the final game of the season and the final game for Fran McCaffery as head coach at Iowa, as the Hawkeyes opted out of postseason play following the firing of McCaffery.

On March 14, 2025, the school fired head coach Fran McCaffery. On March 24, the school hired Drake head coach Ben McCollum to be their next head coach.

Offseason

Departures Iowa departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Even Brauns 0 F 6'9" 245 GS Senior Iowa City, IA Graduated Brock Harding 2 G 6'0" 162 Sophomore Moline, IL Transferred to TCU Drew Thelwell 3 G 6'3" 195 GS Senior Orlando, FL Graduated Josh Dix 4 G 6'5" 200 Junior Council Bluffs, IA Transferred to Creighton Trey Buchanan 5 G 6'1" 180 Freshman Westfield, IN Walk-on; transferred to South Dakota State Seydou Traore 7 F 6'7" 215 Sophomore New York City, NY Transferred to Utah Ladji Dembele 13 F 6'8" 250 Sophomore Newark, NJ Transferred to UNLV Carter Kingsbury 14 G 6'4" 225 RS Junior Ponca, NE Walk-on; transferred to The Citadel Payton Sandfort 20 F 6'7" 215 Senior Waukee, IA Graduated Pryce Sandfort 24 F 6'6" 205 Sophomore Waukee, IA Transferred to Nebraska Luc Laketa 25 G 6'5" 185 Senior Concord, MI Walk-on; left the team Owen Freeman 32 F 6'10" 230 Sophomore Moline, IL Transferred to Creighton Chris Tadjo 34 F 6'8" 220 Freshman Montreal, Quebec Transferred to Santa Clara Riley Mulvey 44 F 6'10" 230 RS Junior Rotterdam, NY Transferred to Siena Isaiah Johnson-Arigu F 6'7" 220 Freshman Minneapolis, MN Transferred to St. Thomas (MN)

Incoming transfers Iowa incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school Cam Manyawu 3 F 6'9" 250 Junior Kansas City, MO Drake Tavion Banks 6 G/F 6'7" 215 Senior Kansas City, MO Drake Alvaro Folgueiras 7 F 6'10" 230 Junior Málaga, Spain Robert Morris Kael Combs 11 G 6'4" 205 Junior Nixa, MO Drake Bennett Stirtz 14 G 6'4" 190 Senior Liberty, MO Drake Brendan Hausen 15 G 6'4" 220 Senior Amarillo, TX Kansas State Isaia Howard 23 G 6'5" 215 Sophomore Plattsburg, MO Drake Joey Matteoni 44 F 6'9" 220 RS Freshman Overland Park, KS Drake

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

2026 recruiting class There are no current recruits for 2026.

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=""| Regular season

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Source

Rankings

References