Hausen didn't fill the stat sheet, but his leadership role played a pivotal part in the Hawkeyes' Elite Eight run.
Editor's note: HawkeyeRoundtable will be releasing player and head coach grades for every Iowa men's and women's basketball over the course of the month of April. This is the second article in the series.
When Brendan Hausen committed to Iowa men's basketball on April 14, 2025, Hawkeye fans thought they were going to get an experienced three-point specialist to pair with Bennett Stirtz.
It didn't work out that way, but in a way, it still did work out.
Here's Hausen's 2025-26 grade:
The rundown
Hausen came to Iowa City with a strong reputation as a sharpshooter - averaging nearly 40% from distance during his three seasons with Villanova and Kansas State. Hawkeye fans already loved Hausen during his K-State tenure, as he hit a logo triple to punctuate an upset win over Iowa's archival Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum.
The senior earned regular minutes during the first five games of the 2026 season, but his minutes took a sharp dip after that. His only real action came against mid-major foes (Western Michigan and Bucknell), and there were some conference games where Hausen didn't see any action at all.
An 11-point performance against Oregon on Feb. 1 was promising, but that would turn out to be the only time Hausen would reach double figures in a conference game this year. This was clearly not the senior season Hausen anticipated, but rather than pout on the bench, he did the exact opposite.
Iowa players often told us this year how much Hausen's leadership helped them, and it made complete sense. The picture for this article says it all, as Hausen would often be a cheerleader on the bench and offer his teammates advice whenever they needed it.
That leadership would carry to the floor when Hausen was on it, as he always gave strong effort and made hustle plays at critical moments. His final collegiate play - a desperate three-point heave in the final seconds against Ohio State in the third round of the Big Ten tournament - was a microcosm of his disappointing on-court performance, but that's not what Hawkeye fans will remember Hausen by.
Does Iowa go on its memorable Elite Eight run without Hausen's veteran locker room leadership? I'm not sure.
I can't give him an A based off of his on-court efforts, but Hausen's strong leadership and his respectfulness with the local media should always earn him praise.
Best of luck to the "Amarillo Assassin" in the future.
Grade B+
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Thank you to everyone for entering the Caitlin Clark jersey contest! We'll continue to do these throughout the rest of the year, especially as we get closer to football season.
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