Deal's transition to college was a struggle, and the McDonald's All-American entered the transfer portal on March 30.
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 first article in the series.
There's two sayings I love to use during portal season.
The first is obvious to anyone that reads HawkeyeRoundtable - "Portal Kombat" - and the second is a saying that often gets passed around on social media - "the portal giveth, and the portal taketh away."
Though the transfer portal doesn't officially open until April 7, Iowa women's basketball is in the "portal taketh" stage of portal season. Freshman guard Addie Deal announced her intention to enter the portal on March 30, bringing her highly-anticipated Hawkeye career to a close after one season.
"Thank you to my amazing teammates, all the incredibly wonderful fans, my business partners, and the Iowa City community for their support over my first year. I have learned a lot during my freshman season and look forward to continuing to grow as a result," Deal said in her announcement Tuesday. ...."Thank you to the staff at the University of Iowa. I will always appreciate my time here."
Deal's decision to transfer surprised many Hawkeye fans, as she was the first five-star signee for the Iowa program since Caitlin Clark and chose Iowa over blue blood programs Stanford and UCLA in her native California.
HawkeyeRoundtable already planned on doing this, but in light of Deal's announcement, we'll begin our 2025-26 Iowa women's basketball player grades with Deal.
The rundown
Deal received heavy attention from fans and the media right from the start, but like most freshman, it took time for her to adjust to Big Ten basketball. Deal registered 10 or more points just three times before the calendar flipped to 2026, but seemed to finally hit her stride by late January.
The McDonald's All-American netted 18 points in Iowa's 74-66 victory over Oregon on Jan. `15, but her best game came against then-No. 12 Ohio State on Jan. 25. Deal was thrusted into the starting lineup after Taylor McCabe's season-ending ACL injury early in the game and she thrived, scoring 20 points, three rebounds, and five assists in 32 minutes of action.
The Hawkeyes went on to win that game 91-70, but Deal's play massively regressed after that. She remained in the starting lineup for Iowa's next three games (all losses), recording just a combined nine points in the defeats. Taylor Stremlow took over Deal's starting spot as a result, and though Deal earned quality bench minutes, the consistency that once existed against Ohio State was nowhere to be found.
In fact, Deal would reach double figures just once over the rest of the season - in garbage time against UCLA in the Big Ten title game. Deal only played four minutes and didn't score in the season-ending loss to Virginia in the second round of the NCAA tournament, and her portal announcement came exactly one week later.
The grade
There's no denying it - Deal should've played a larger role on this Hawkeye team. Anytime you have the McDonald's All-American and five-star tag, you're going to have expectations. There were plenty of chances for Deal to make an impact on a young Iowa roster, but it just never clicked.
I can't imagine playing college basketball 2,000 miles away from home, especially Big Ten basketball, so the criticism of Deal was a little harsh, but even still, she definitely underachieved in 2025-26.
I wouldn't be surprised if Deal transfers closer to home and becomes a fantastic college basketball player. She's got tremendous talent, but it never showed at Iowa.
Grade: C-
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