Coleman has massive shoes to fill after Bennett Stirtz's departure.
After its Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in Ben McCollum's first season, anticipation is for Iowa men's basketball is through the roof.
The 2026-27 Hawkeyes lost standout point guard Bennett Stirtz to graduation, but most of the young pieces that guided Iowa to its best NCAA tournament run in the 21st century have returned to continue the program's sudden momentum surge.
McCollum and Co. were busy scouting, recruiting, and signing players from the transfer portal as well, and came through with two new additions.
Aside from addressing a glaring issue in the front court, the Hawkeyes needed to find a replacement for Stirtz, if there was such a thing. Stirtz was the engine behind Iowa's 2026 success, leading the Hawkeyes in points, assists, and steals.
Stirtz will likely be a first round selection in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, so asking someone to duplicate that performance isn't a fair assessment, but McCollum is trusting Illinois State transfer Ty'Reek Coleman to run his dynamic offense in 2027.
The Rundown
Coleman was ranked as a three-star prospect out of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois, but his only two offers out of high school came from Miami (OH) and nearby Illinois State. Coleman chose to stay in-state and play for the Redbirds, and clearly the decision worked well for him.
Coleman spent only one season in Normal, but his freshman season was a productive one. He averaged 10 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists off the bench for a Redbirds team that advanced to the NIT semifinals.
Coleman entered the transfer portal on April 8 and committed to Iowa nine days later.
“Ty’Reek is a twitchy, efficient scorer,” McCollum said in a press release after Coleman's signing. “He has a knack for being able to get into the lane to finish and he’s going to be a weapon in the pick-and-roll and drive-and-kick situations in our offense. Defensively, he is a strong guard who can really pressure the ball. We’re excited for Ty’Reek to join our program this summer.”
Analysis
McCollum's statement is exactly how I would describe Coleman's play. Iowa's system prefers to have scrappy, athletic guards that are capable of scoring at a high level. Hawkeye fans may be concerned with Coleman's per game averages, but keep in mind that he was averaging 10 points per contest as a freshmen off the bench in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The box scores look good, but the thing that stands out to me about Coleman is his effective field goal percentage, helps to show what field goal percentage a two-point shooter would have to shoot at to match the output of a player who also shoots three-pointers.
Coleman began his freshman campaign with a mediocre EFG%, but as the season wore on, he raised the figure to the mid-60s and 70s (70.8 against Auburn in NIT semifinal) per game by the end of the season, which is considered to be very good. For reference, Stirtz's EFG% during Iowa's NCAA tournament run topped out at 58.8% against Illinois in the Elite Eight.
Was that the deciding factor that led McCollum to show interest in Coleman? Probably not, but that efficiency certainly helped with the decision and is a great sign of Coleman's potential in Iowa City.
He's got three years of eligibility remaining, so it wouldn't be surprising to see McCollum's history of strong point guard play rub off on Coleman.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]
