No it's not. Had to redshirt at Drake and is clearly going to be over recruited moving forward. If he could play, we would know by now. The few minutes that were available this year due foul trouble and what not were given to Jirak.
We currently have 1 Open Roster Spot if Tavion Banks returns in 2026-27
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
You don't know if he's going to be over recruited. Ben brought him in for a reason and it wasn't to play this year. And maybe not next year either. Not all 15 players need to be ready to play, we're mainly going to play 8-10 players. We're not going to bring in (and pay) top talent to sit on the bench. The top 10 players are the people who are needed for the current year, the next 5 are your developmental players or practice players.
If Banks gets a waiver for another year and if we land Coon, a center and a PG, somebody for sure has to go.
Ben plays 8, sometimes 9, at most. It's going to be interesting to see who is looking for more playing time, more money, etc & enters the transfer portal.
3 candidates who might move on:
6'9 F Alvaro Folgueiras (SR)
6'2 G Jacob Koch (JR)
6'9 F Joey Matteoni (RS SO)
Is there anything more than the speculation that has come from beat reporters?
He cost Iowa over $1M this past season; he should work for $0 next season since he only shows up ready to go half the time.
Over $500,000 per year, on average, over 2 years is not too shabby, imo.
Stirtz got over a million, too, apparently. Hausen got nicely paid, and he rarely played.
Kentucky spent $22 million on its roster. They lost in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
On3 reported that Iowa, which made the Elite 8, spent between $8 million and $10 million on its roster. What the budget will be at Iowa for next season is anyone's guess.
Link to that story:
Sweet 16 top spenders: Which programs spent $10 million, who got biggest bang for buck
The Sweet 16 tips off Thursday, and many of the teams still standing are the biggest spenders. On3 is breaking down who spent the most.
Iowa (24-13) was 15-1 this season when Alvaro showed up and scored in double figures.
Iowa was 9-12 when he didn't.
Is there anything more than the speculation that has come from beat reporters?
He cost Iowa over $1M this past season; he should work for $0 next season since he only shows up ready to go half the time.
Over $500,000 per year, on average, over 2 years is not too shabby, imo.
Stirtz got over a million, too, apparently. Hausen got nicely paid, and he rarely played.
Kentucky spent $22 million on its roster. They lost in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
On3 reported that Iowa, which made the Elite 8, spent between $8 million and $10 million on its roster. What the budget will be at Iowa for next season is anyone's guess.
Link to that story:
Sweet 16 top spenders: Which programs spent $10 million, who got biggest bang for buck
The Sweet 16 tips off Thursday, and many of the teams still standing are the biggest spenders. On3 is breaking down who spent the most.www.on3.com
Overspent on Hausen, Al F, and Deal and didn’t compensate Stirtz relative to his market value as it turned out.
We need to get smarter on how we spend our NIL money.
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Deal?
Can you imagine having to deal with the agents for the players? Alvaro's agent is probably looking for over $1M again, which likely means Alvaro is gone.
We absolutely overpaid for Hausen. For those that don't know, he was paid 7 figures. Between Hausen, Stirtz, and Al, we paid $5M.
I don't think we overspent for Al. The exposure the Hawks got by getting to the Elite Eight is immeasurable and we obviously don't get there without Al's major contributions in those 3 games we won.
As for Stirtz, he was coming regardless and he's going to make some pretty nice guaranteed bank in the league next year.
So the question is, assuming Al is gone, what are we going to do with the $5M that will be freed up. My guess is some of that is going to be spread to major contributors that are coming back (Combs, Cam, Koch, and Sage). Let's say it's $1M that gets split between those 4 to up their current take. That leaves $4M. I say, go find a big time post player for $3M and use the other $1M for a good PG.
These numbers really are jaw dropping. And don't forget; these guys are still on a full ride scholarship, which is very valuable, especially for out of state players.
Any way, for you and for anyone else:
Assume Alvaro is gone and that you have a $10M budget for the following 15 man roster. How do you spend it?
Jaidyn Coon--assuming he signs
PG out of the portal
Center out of the portal
6'7 G/F Tavion Banks (SR)
6'4 G Kael Combs (SR)
6'8 F Cam Manyawu (SR)
6'5 G Isaia Howard (JR)
6'2 G Jacob Koch (JR)
6'7 G Tate Sage (SO)
6'8 F Cooper Koch (RS SO)
6'9 F Joey Matteoni (RS SO)
6'11 C Trevin Jirak (SO)
6'8 F Trey Thompson (RS FR)
6'8" PF Ethan Harris (FR)
6'2 G Peyton McCollum (RS FR)
Ok you got me. I don't know per say, but it's a very good educated guess. Ben has mentioned multiple he needs more talent which would indicate he would recruit over a guy that could not even crack the lineup at a mid major. The reason ben brought him in was because he needed to fill out a roster in short time and to help build his culture. Heck, even Sage admitted he was surprised he got an Iowa offer. Bottom line is Ben has had two years of development with JM, he kind of knows at this point if he can play or not.
I think your $5M number is high by at lesst a $1M. I heard Bennett got between $1.5 and $2.0M. Folgy $1M. Hausen less than $1M.
Use that money for a top big ($2M) and point guard ($1.5M). Allocate enough for Koch, Sage, Combs, Cam, Thompson, Jirak, and Howard in that order. Harris and Coon would be next. I wonder if Banks gets another year.
Yep. JM got a very late offer to join Ben and his former teammates at Iowa after Ben struck out with some portal guys he liked.
I agree he needs to bring in more talent and I agree that he wants to bring in more talent. But I think he's looking to replace some people in his top 10. Could some of those people in the current top 10 move to the 11-15, maybe someone like Howard could, but I don't think they'll be happy and want to stay. AF is not going to move to 11-15 and we're not going to pay him the kind of money he's looking for just to sit on the bench. It's like in the business world, you don't hire PHD's for every position, it's too costly and not worth it. Get the best PHD's for the right positions.
Talk to Chad Leistikow about the numbers.....those came from him on Legends & Listeners which he got from a source within the athletic department.
Joey played a little in some early season games and I certainly didn't see any reason for him not to stick. Ben likes players who work hard and make the rotation after they have some time in the program. He has size which we really need and will have to really pay to get in the portal.
I totally agree with your post. It irks me to see any posters trashing our players. With a 15 man roster we have room for developmental players like Joey.
April 2, 2026 Update:
Jaidyn Coon committed today.
Assuming Tavion Banks is back & no one else departs, we would have 14 of the 15 roster spots filled for 2026-2027 (13 on scholarship, 1 walk on).
6'7 G/F Tavion Banks (SR)
6'9 F Alvaro Folgueiras (SR)
6'4 G Kael Combs (SR)
6'8 F Cam Manyawu (SR)
6'5 G Isaia Howard (JR)
6'2 G Jacob Koch (JR)
6'7 G Tate Sage (SO)
6'8 F Cooper Koch (RS SO)
6'9 F Joey Matteoni (RS SO)
6'11 C Trevin Jirak (SO)
6'8 F Trey Thompson (RS FR)
6'8" PF Ethan Harris (FR)
6'2 G Peyton McCollum (RS FR)
6'7 SF Jaidyn Coon (FR)
Jaidyn Coon committed today.
Assuming Tavion Banks is back & no one else departs, we would have 14 of the 15 roster spots filled for 2026-2027 (13 on scholarship, 1 walk on).
6'7 G/F Tavion Banks (SR)
6'9 F Alvaro Folgueiras (SR)
6'4 G Kael Combs (SR)
6'8 F Cam Manyawu (SR)
6'5 G Isaia Howard (JR)
6'2 G Jacob Koch (JR)
6'7 G Tate Sage (SO)
6'8 F Cooper Koch (RS SO)
6'9 F Joey Matteoni (RS SO)
6'11 C Trevin Jirak (SO)
6'8 F Trey Thompson (RS FR)
6'8" PF Ethan Harris (FR)
6'2 G Peyton McCollum (RS FR)
6'7 SF Jaidyn Coon (FR)
What does Deal have to do with the mens team? Oh I get it, that's on her too? The women's team has their own budget and has nothing to do with Bens anymore then Kirks does......
Of course the WBB has their own budget but the point that we still way overpaid for her relative to her contributions this last year - similar to Hausen and Al F on the men’s side - remains.
We need to be smarter with both MBB and WBB funds.
Ok.so I guess either no big or no pg out of portal?
Hmmm...or what?
Hmmm...or what?
I'm sure at least one person will transfer out. It's almost impossible in this day and age to have 0 players transfer out
Banks, Folgy and/or JM will hit portal or run out of eligibility thus plenty of room for a PG and Big. We don't need 15 per se, that's simply the limit and BM plays no more than 8-9 as we've seen.
This G from Oakland is suing the NCAA for an extra year, Banks and team may want to watch this case, which will be heard on 4/7.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...rvertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1
This G from Oakland is suing the NCAA for an extra year, Banks and team may want to watch this case, which will be heard on 4/7.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...rvertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1
From Google AI:
As of April 3, 2026, a ruling from the NCAA on Tavion Banks' eligibility for the 2026-2027 season is pending. Banks is seeking a waiver for an extra year of eligibility based on his two-year career at the junior college (JUCO) level before moving to the Division I level.
Key Details on the Decision Timing:
--> Waiting Game: Following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, Banks is waiting on the result of an ongoing lawsuit/waiver process that could grant former JUCO athletes another year of eligibility, similar to the ruling that benefited quarterback Diego Pavia.
--> Timeline: While no specific date has been announced for the ruling, Iowa head coach Ben McCollum indicated that the decision, tied to the JUCO-related lawsuit, would likely be resolved "before the portal opens and stuff like that".
--> Prospects: Banks has confirmed that if the waiver is approved, he intends to return to Iowa for the 2026-27 season.
Note: This information is based on reports from late March and early April 2026, during the NCAA basketball postseason.
Could Tavion get 2 more years since he was in juco his first 2 years?
2022-2023: Northwest Florida State Junior College
2023-2024: Northwest Florida State Junior College
2024-2025: Drake
2025-2026: IOWA
Tavion turned 23 on April 1; he's majoring in interdepartmental studies.
Interdepartmental studies???
Undergraduate Programs
The Interdepartmental Studies Program offers a undergraduate major, where students choose one of four tracks for the major: applied human services, business studies, health science, or an individualized plan of study. The individualized plan of study track is selective; students must apply and be
Not at Iowa , too much young talent in the program.Could Tavion get 2 more years since he was in juco his first 2 years?
2022-2023: Northwest Florida State Junior College
2023-2024: Northwest Florida State Junior College
2024-2025: Drake
2025-2026: IOWA
Tavion turned 23 on April 1; he's majoring in interdepartmental studies.
Interdepartmental studies???