Any new portal targets for Iowa Basketball?

The college basketball season will come to a close following the Final Four this weekend, but portal season is well underway. In fact, with each passing day, even more college hoops players at the high major, mid-major, and low major level or entering the NCAA transfer portal and hoping to find a new home to complete their college careers.

There are some players who have already found a new home, but the vast majority are listening to coaches and in some cases, weighing NIL opportunities at prospective schools. Make no mistake Name, Image, and Likeness played a role last year and it will play one this spring.

Last year, Fran McCaffery didn’t have the Iowa Swarm to offer help and was shut out when it comes to transfers. This year he will have an NIL program to offer potential financial opportunities for a prospect in the transfer portal.

With Josh Ogundele and Ahron Ulis entering the transfer portal and Kris Murray expected to declare for the NBA Draft any day now, McCaffery will now potentially have three scholarships to use this spring. His plan at this point is to attempt to land two big men and then probably a combo type guard or wing player.

One player who is expected to be headed to Iowa is big man Even Brauns. He played at Iowa City West and announced that he was entering the transfer portal after three years at Belmont. The expectation at this point is that he will be walking on at Iowa. This past year he started 30 of 31 games for the Bruins, averaging 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He had a career high 18 points in February against Illinois State and shot 58% this past season.

So, who are the big man options?

One name that we have heard Fran McCaffery likes is Josh Cohen, a 6-10 big man from St. Francis (PA). He took a day visit to Penn State before their head coaching change and then last weekend he visited UMass. Cohen averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds this past season. That included scoring 30 against Miami(FL). He will be a name to watch.

A second name that seems to be gaining some traction is B.J. Mack. He is a transfer from Wofford and was the second leading scorer in the Southern Conference at 16.6 points per game. Iowa reportedly made a visit to see Mack in the last week after making his top ten list which includes: Iowa, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, Butler, Xavier, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Michigan, and South Carolina.

The Hawkeyes have also reached out to 6-foot-10 center Jamille Reynolds from Temple. He averaged 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Owls. In addition to Iowa, Reynolds has heard from Florida, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Arkansas, Cincinnati, and South Carolina.

Jordan Minor will be another name to watch. The Hawkeyes have reached out to the Merrimack big man. He was the conference Co-Player of the Year, averaging 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Minor, who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 240 pounds, has heard from Iowa, UMASS, Rhode Island, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, and Boston College.

One new name that dropped into the portal and would be an ideal fit for what Iowa needs is Virginia transfer Kadin Shedrick. The 6-11 center is more of a defensive rim protector than an offensive threat. Last year he averaged 6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He also averaged 1.5 blocks per game. In addition to hearing from Iowa, he has also has been in touch with Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Rutgers, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Northwestern.

While not a big man, Iowa fans should keep tabs on the portal recruitment of Tyler Nickel. He announced his departure from North Carolina and most expect the Hawkeyes and Virginia Tech to be players in his recruitment.

As far as a time frame, we should begin to see more activity ramp up in the coming weeks as players begin to take visits and eventually make decisions.

The post Any new portal targets for Iowa Basketball? appeared first on On3.