Illinois State transfer Ty'Reek Coleman may not have been the name some Iowa fans wanted, but McCollum's proven track record of developing point guards is hard to ignore.
When Illinois State transfer Ty'Reek Coleman announced he would become Iowa men's basketball's first transfer portal commit on Friday evening, most of Hawkeye Nation was elated.
After over a week of speculation and discussion, Iowa fans finally had a transfer to be excited about, so some of the excitement was natural. It's now been two days since Coleman's commitment, and while most of the excitement is still there, some of the shine has worn off to disappointed rust - at least from a select group of fanatics.
"Nice but why can’t he [McCollum] get a Power Four transfer," one Facebook user wrote. "They were an Elite Eight team and finished in top-15."
Every fan has the right to have an opinion, but if there's someone to trust when it comes to selecting point guards, it's probably Ben McCollum. Though the 45-year-old is known as a coaching mastermind in coaching circles, most coaches rave about McCollum's ability to develop point guards.
Bennett Stirtz arrived to McCollum's Northwest Missouri State squad in 2022 with no Division I offers. Four years and three schools later, Stirtz will likely be a first round selection in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft after leading the Hawkeyes to their first Elite Eight appearance since 1987.
It's still too early to completely to rule it out, but Stirtz may be the most notable player associated with McCollum, but he's not the only point guard to earn a dazzling reputation under McCollum.
Trevor Hudgins also came to McCollum with no Division I offers, but left as a three-time Division II champion and spent one season in the NBA with the Houston Rockets before launching a successful career overseas.
Coleman, Iowa's newest guard, already had a Division I pedigree, but is still an underdog in some ways. He's only a true sophomore, and was not a starter for Illinois State despite recording 10 points per game.
It's not like Coleman wasn't receiving interest from other high-major programs, either. New-look Kansas State made a hard push, as did rising Nebraska and always-formidable Utah State.
Coleman will have to learn and adapt his game to McCollum's system over the summer - increasing his assists from 1.8 per contest may be a starting point - but he has everything a McCollum-coached needs - scrappiness, scoring, and youth.
McCollum knows he needs to utilize the transfer portal in order to be competitive in 2026, but his approach is to bring young, high-upside players to his team. Take one look at Coleman, and it's hard not to see him making an impact for the 2026-27 Hawkeyes.
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