After a 26-10 season that included a Big Ten Tournament title, Iowa enters the offseason set to replace a superstar and the Big Ten’s all-time 3-pointers made leader. Sophomore forward [autotag]Keegan Murray[/autotag] recently announced his intention to enter the 2022 NBA draft and sixth-year senior guard [autotag]Jordan Bohannon[/autotag] has exhausted his eligibility.
Murray ranked fourth nationally and led all power-five players in scoring average with 23.5 points per game. He also finished with the nation’s most total points with 822. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native finished second in the Big Ten with his 8.7 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Bohannon finished his Hawkeye career with 455 made 3-pointers, which is the most in both Iowa program history and among all Big Ten players.
Iowa has also seen three defections into the transfer portal. Redshirt senior guard Austin Ash, junior guard Joe Toussaint and sophomore forward Josh Ogundele all announced their decisions to enter the transfer portal. Toussaint had the biggest impact on last season for the Hawkeyes, averaging 4.3 points, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Ash averaged 2.9 points per game while playing an average of 4.4 minutes per contest. Ogundele averaged 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 5.2 minutes per game.
While Iowa is certainly replacing star power and a steady hand in Toussaint, at least one national writer thinks highly of the Hawkeyes entering next season. 247Sports national college basketball writer Kevin Flaherty included Iowa in his way-too-early top 23 rankings for 2023. Flaherty ranked Iowa No. 16 and shared why he feels the Hawkeyes will still be a force in the 2022-23 season.
OK, so Keegan Murray is gone. But Kris Murray was a pretty salty option off the bench this year, and he’ll join forces with Patrick McCaffery, Tony Perkins and Payton Sandfort to field a team that should once again be among the Big Ten’s best. With Filip Rebraca announcing his return for his extra season of eligibility, Iowa returns five of its top eight from the Hawkeyes’ lineup in the Big Ten Tournament title game win over Purdue. – Flaherty, 247Sports.
The continued growth of [autotag]Kris Murray[/autotag] will be one of the biggest keys for Iowa next season. Murray averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in just 17.9 minutes of floor time on average. Patrick McCaffery averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. Murray shot 38.7% from 3-point range and McCaffery shot 33% from deep. That’s a talented pair to build around and Iowa will likely look to add some players out of the transfer portal as well.
According to 247Sports, the Hawkeyes signed a pair of three-star guards in the 2022 signing class in point guard Dasonte Bowen out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and shooting guard Josh Dix from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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