After a 19-14 (11-9 Big Ten) campaign, the Iowa Hawkeyes secured a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament trip.
The Hawkeyes are one of just 10 teams nationally and one of three Big Ten teams that can boast that fact. Iowa joins Purdue and Michigan State as fellow Big Ten squads that have taken part in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
Head coach Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes have retooled the equation heading into the 2023-24 season. Iowa’s top two leading scorers and rebounders from last season are off to the professional ranks in forwards Kris Murray and center Filip Rebraca.
That means the Hawkeyes have 34.3 points and 15.4 rebounds to replace just between those two. Then, there’s the losses of guards Ahron Ulis and Connor McCaffery. In addition to their scoring, McCaffery’s defensive prowess will certainly be missed by this time.
As those names move on, Iowa will turn to senior guard Tony Perkins, senior forward Patrick McCaffery and junior forward Payton Sandfort as its presumptive leaders. Perkins and Sandfort both averaged career highs in points per game last season with 12.3 and 10.3, respectively. Meanwhile, McCaffery was just outside double-figure scoring with 9.8 points per game last season.
The Hawkeyes added a pair of impact transfers in Valparaiso big Ben Krikke and Belmont big Even Brauns. The 6-foot-9, 220 pound big led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game. Brauns averaged 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game in 21.2 minutes of average floor time last year with the Bruins.
Sophomore guards Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix are expected to be key contributors as well. Mix in freshmen Brock Harding, Ladji Dembele, Pryce Sandfort and Owen Freeman to round out the likely rotation pieces.
As you’ll see below, the media isn’t buying into Iowa’s 2023-24 forecast just yet with as much unknown as the Hawkeyes have. But, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said recently that he understands why the expectations are what they are nationally.
“We’re not really concerned with what people think of us in the preseason. In all honesty how are you guys supposed to evaluate teams any more when rosters changed eight or nine guys?” McCaffery said.
He’s also not worried about it and is confident in what he feels he has on his roster.
“So, we have to wait. So we just approach it this way: We really like our team. I have a tremendous sense of maturity in that locker room. We’ve got a lot of different guys who can play. We have a lot of different guys who can bring things to the table.
“Often times, when you’re not maybe thought of as much, it’s because they don’t think you can score. We don’t have a problem there. We can score. We have a lot of guys who can make threes. We have way more size than we probably have had in the last five years. So we should be able to rebound pretty well, which obviously triggers the break. So I feel really good about this team,” McCaffery said.
Organized by The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn and the Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Hardy, the preseason Big Ten media poll surveys two writers from each of the league’s 14 schools. Here’s a look at how the preseason media poll shook out.