FEELING THE PRESSURE? | Lucy Olsen embracing role as NEXT UP | Iowa Women’s Basketball Media Day ’24!

Definitely pumped for this team. Iowa football as usual fell flat on their face because of that head coach but at least womens basketball is about here.

I look forward to that more than this joke they call football here.

Iowa men’s basketball hopes new additions can spark a turnaround in 2024-25

The Hawkeyes missed the NCAA tournament last season but are confident their new additions through the portal and recruitment can bring more athleticism and defense to the squad.

The 2023-24 Iowa athletics season brought plenty of enthusiasm to Iowa City.

The football team won 10 games and clinched its third Big Ten West division, women’s wrestling claimed a national championship in its inaugural campaign, and the soccer squad made an improbable run to the NCAA Tournament.

And to top it off, the women’s basketball team won 34 games and went to the NCAA Championship Game for the second consecutive season, shattering records and trailblazing women’s sports along the way.

Iowa forward Seymour Traore shoots the ball during men’s basketball media day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. The team took interviews from the media and held an open practice.

But often forgotten in the mix was the men’s basketball team, who suffered through a disappointing 19-15 season in 2023-24, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018.

The dismal campaign frustrated many Hawkeye fans, as the program hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the Big Dance since 1999 despite All-Americans Jarrod Uthoff, Luka Garza, Keegan Murray, and Kris Murray playing for the program in recent years.

Iowa won 26 games in the 2021-22 season, but has compiled only a 38-29 record since, barely hovering around .500 in the Big Ten each of those two years. Attendance has also dwindled, with many games last season barely attracting 10,000 people even for conference games.

Head coach Fran McCaffery returns for his 15th season in Iowa City and has boasted some of the top offensive teams in the country over his tenure. But defense has seemed to be the Achilles heel, as the Hawkeyes allowed nearly 80 points per game in 2023-24.

Despite the lack of optimism surrounding the program, the Hawkeyes are hopeful for a turnaround, one they hope to achieve with a new-look roster featuring well-rounded athleticism and strong defense to combat their high-powered offense.

“We expect to be really good,” McCaffery said at Iowa media day on Oct. 7. “We expect to win a lot of games. We expect to go to the NCAA Tournament. We expect to contend night in and night out in a very difficult league.”

Transfers provide upside

Iowa isn’t known as a hotbed for transfers, but the program has had a knack for finding under-the-radar recruits and quickly developing them into Big Ten caliber players. Notable examples in recent years are Filip Rebraca and Ben Krikke, each of whom enjoyed successful careers with the Hawkeyes.

Now, Iowa hopes to continue their history of development with new transfers Drew Thelwell and Seydou Traore.

Thelwell, a point guard from Morehead State, comes to Iowa City as the winningest player in Eagles history, recording 94 victories and leading Morehead to two NCAA Tournaments and two Ohio Valley Conference titles.

The 6-foot-3 senior chipped in 10 points and 6.2 assists per game last season, leading the OVC and ranking 15th nationally with 211 total assists during the year. Not only can Thelwell distribute the ball well, he also topped the OVC in assist-to-turnover ratio, a key factor for success at the position.

Now in his fifth season of college basketball, Thelwell’s maturity and experience have already earned praise from McCaffery, with the coach also crediting Thelwell’s positive influence on sophomore point guard Brock Harding.

“It’s been fun just to kind of battle with him every single day,” Harding recalled. “I’m a lot quicker, obviously, and he uses his physicality. So just kind of two different dynamics that we get to guard each other.”

Thelwell’s game translates well to McCaffery’s high-octane offense, a unit that has ranked in the top five of the Big Ten in assists per game for the last four seasons. Even if he starts or not, his passing ability could give this Hawkeye offense even more firepower and depth in conference play.

Traore, a forward from Manhattan, joins Iowa after a successful freshman campaign for the Jaspers, recording 11.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Traore ranked second on the team in scoring and led the Mid Atlantic Athletic Conference with 1.3 blocks per game.

Additionally, The 6-foot-7 forward was the only player in the MAAC to record 300 points, 200 rebounds, 60 assists, 40 steals, and 30 blocks. Though his Manhattan squad went 7-23, Traore’s performance earned him All-MAAC Rookie Team honors.

“I feel like this year I’m just going to be able to play my game, be versatile, especially on defensive end and offensive end, just being able to go out one through five and be able to score whenever I get a chance to,” Traore said.

Freshman upsides

Along with the additions of Traore and Thelwell, Iowa brings in a 2024 recruiting class featuring two high-upside prospects.

Chris Tadjo joins the Hawkeyes after a successful prep career in Canada, where he was a two-time Most Valuable Player of the All-Canadian Games, an event that showcases the best high school basketball prospects in Canada. Tadjo posted a double-double of 25 points and 16 rebounds in the 2023 edition, earning one of the two MVP honors.

In addition to his career in Canada, Tadjo has tallied an impressive resume with the NBA Academy Latin America, a training program for top prospects from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.

The 6-foot-8 forward is known for his rebounding and overall tenacious defensive ability, something that could pay huge dividends moving forward for the Hawkeyes.

“It’s easy to see the Canadian forward bringing value in spots early on in his collegiate career as a rebounder and defender given his physicality, toughness and athletic ability,” Max Feldman of MADE Hoops said in a recent article. “Continuing to polish his skill level, processing-ability and carving out a bankable trait offensively will be keys long-term.”

Tadjo says he is still learning the ins and outs of McCaffery’s motion offense, but he hopes his patient approach to the game can “help everyone.”

Joining Tadjo in the 2024 class is Cooper Koch. Koch, a forward from Peoria, Illinois, posted 17.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game for Metamora High School, earning Illinois High School Association Class 3A first-team honors.

“I’m just trying to help the team as much as possible, try to space the floor and shoot it pretty well from three,” Koch said.

Standing at 6-foot-8, Koch is also a versatile player like Tadjo, and he can extend opposing defenses with his shooting ability, with his prowess for scoring from all areas of the court earning praise from McCaffery and his teammates.

“I remember I went to see him out west, and he had eight threes in a row,” McCaffery said. “You remember, he is 6’8″, so he can score inside. He does offensive rebound. He can post up. He is a three-level scorer.”

“The first day Cooper was on campus, I saw a lot of my younger self and him, and I would say he’s even way more ready than I was when I came as a freshman, and I made an impact,” Sandfort said. “I’m excited to see how he can play this year.”