Iowa adds another former Drake star to Ben McCollum’s transfer class

Bn McCollum is leading Iowa into the future as the new head coach of the Hawkeyes, and the head coach is relying on the transfer portal to remake the roster for his first season.

With the firing of Fran McCaffery, Iowa saw the bulk of its roster head into the transfer portal, including key pieces such as Owen Freeman, Pryce Sandfort and Josh Dix. Altogether, 10 Hawkeyes entered the portal, meaning McCollum had to look elsewhere for his roster.

So far, that has included a bulk of production following the head with him from Drake. The latest player to that group is Tavion Banks in a move that was reported on Friday.

Banks spent the 2024-25 season at Drake after beginning his career at Northwest Florida State. He appeared in 34 games (just 1 start) and was named the 6th man of the Missouri Valley Conference for the Bulldogs after averaging 10.1 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist and shooting 52% from the floor.

Banks was the 3rd-leading scorer for McCollum’s Drake squad, and he is now the 5th former Drake player to commit to McCollum’s group in Iowa City. Most importantly, McCollum was able to keep star point guard Bennett Stirtz and starting big man Cam Manyawu.

Stirtz was the MVC Player of the Year after leading all of D-I basketball with 39.4 minutes played per game in 35 appearances. He averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals while shooting right at 50% from the floor and 39.5% from 3-point range.

Now, Iowa can add another piece for continuity to the piece of the puzzle for the 2025-26 season.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.