With the dust mostly settled on rosters for the 2023-24 season, we’re going team-by-team in the Big Ten to assess where everyone stands and how things could shake out next year.
Next up is Iowa, who will be in an interesting spot this year. The Hawkeyes finished 11-9 in conference play last year, earning the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. They went 19-14 overall, earning a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Arkansas.
WHO’S GONE:
- Kris Murray (20.2 PPG)
- Filip Rebraca (14.1 PPG)
- Connor McCaffery (6.5 PPG)
- Ahron Ulis (6.1 PPG)
- Josh Ogundele (1.9 PPG)
WHO’S BACK:
- Tony Perkins, G, (12.3 PPG)
- Payton Sandford, F, (10.3 PPG)
- Patrick McCaffery, G, (9.8 PPG)
- Dasonte Bowen, G, (3.1 PPG)
- Josh Dix, G, (2.0 PPG)
WHO’S NEW:
Transfer portal
- Ben Krikke, F, (19.4 PPG at Valparaiso)
- Even Brauns, C, (7.0 PPG at Belmont)
Freshmen (Rankings from 247Sports Composite)
- Pryce Sandfort, F (No. 85)
- Ladji Dembele, F (No. 160)
- Owen Freeman, F (No. 179)
- Brock Harding, G (unranked)
RETURNING MINUTES: 44.1 percent (per barttorvik.com)
WHY IT WILL WORK
Reigning Big Ten sixth man of the year Payton Sandfort and Tony Perkins played important roles for Iowa last year, but they’ll have to step into even larger ones this year. If they can handle that spotlight and elevate their games, Iowa will have a fighting chance to be a solid team. The Hawkeyes will also need Patrick McCaffery to come back strong — after missing nearly a month for mental health reasons, he was (understandably) not the same player when he returned. The Hawkeyes will be relying on him harder this year. MVC leading scorer Ben Krikke is the team’s key addition, and if his play can translate to the Big Ten, he could be a real weapon.
WHY IT WON’T
If Kris Murray (and Filip Rebraca) leave a void too big for the Hawkeyes to fill. Murray was a first team All-Big Ten player last season, and at his best, he was nearly unstoppable. It’s unreasonable to expect any one player to step in and do everything Murray did, but if the group can’t collectively make up for his loss, it could spell trouble. Additionally, Fran McCaffery’s Iowa teams have always had defensive limitations or liabilities. It’s an annual cause for concern — Iowa’s offense is often good enough to win in shootouts, but can the defense hold up enough to win the big games?
OUR TAKE
McCaffery’s Iowa teams have pretty consistently been in the NCAA Tournament mix during his tenure. He’s made the last four tournaments (excluding 2020, when the event was canceled. This group has some big shoes to replace with Murray gone, though, and a step back could be plausible. But McCaffery’s Hawkeyes usually find a way to at least be on the NCAA Tournament bubble as March rolls around, and that seems a realistic outcome again.
BIG TEN OUTLOOK: Middle of the pack
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