Iowa will have high expectations in 2026-27, and these two Hawkeyes could help make those expectations turn to reality.
Anyone that thought Iowa women's basketball would fall off a cliff after Caitlin Clark's departure has been completely wrong.
The momentum around this program remains at an all-time high after a stellar 2025-26 campaign that saw the Hawkeyes exceed expectations, win 27 games, and earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The gut-wrenching home defeat to Virginia in the Big Dance slightly dampened the excitement, but Iowa's successful transfer portal class of Dani Carnegie, Amari Whiting, Jocelyn Faison, and Bria Medina has brought the enthusiasm right back.
Throw this group in with established stars Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow, and the Hawkeyes are probably at minimum a top-15 preseason team.
We already know the talents these aforementioned players could bring to this Iowa team, but Jan Jensen's crew also boasts some young players that could be poised to take the next step in 2026-27.
G Journey Houston
You can't write an article like this without bringing up Journey Houston. When you look at Iowa's roster last year, there probably wasn't a more surprising performer than Houston.
Addie Deal was expected to be Iowa's hotshot freshman in 2026, but it didn't take long for that to not be the case. While Deal struggled with inconsistency, Houston blossomed into a key bench player midway through the regular season and even started two games in place of an injured Hannah Stuelke - at Purdue on Feb. 19 and at Wisconsin on March 1.
The box score (5.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game) doesn't necessarily show it, but every time Houston was on the floor, she contributed for this team. While she did record a career-high 16 points against Purdue and USC, the game that showed her potential for 2027 and beyond was the Hawkeyes' regular season home finale against Illinois on Feb. 26.
Iowa and Illinois were trading blows all night long, but the Fighting Illini simply couldn't miss in the second half and nearly pulled away at many different junctures. The reason why the Hawkeyes stayed close was because of Houston, who collected nine points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Houston's midrange jumper was on full display in this one, but the eight rebounds are what kept Iowa alive long enough to seize control and pull away late in the fourth.
Houston will need to develop a three point shot (4/11 in 2026) and find more consistency from the charity stripe (72%) but these are aspects of her game that she can easily fix over the summer.
Many people also forget that Houston was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school herself. 247Sports listed Houston as a four-star recruit and she probably would've reached five-star status had she not suffered a season-ending injury during her junior year of high school.
The Big Ten may have a problem because all signs point to a breakout 2026-27 campaign for Houston.
C Layla Hays
Hays may not be a name Hawkeye fans are paying attention to this summer, but they might be wise to start doing so.
The four-star prospect from Alaska didn't make much of a major impact in 2025-26, but the raw talent was clearly there. The 6-foot-5 Hays (4 points, 2.5 rebounds per game in 2026) has a lot of elements of her game to fine-tune throughout the summer, but her tall frame alone should be a reason for optimism.
With Stuelke graduating, the Hawkeyes need a backup big man to help give Heiden a breather, and the most logical person to fill that role is Hays. Again, she needs to improve her footwork down low and her post defense, but considering Hays is being coached by Jensen, one of the nation's best post coaches, she should have no problem doing that.
Hays may not be a breakout candidate like Houston, but she's primed to take a big step forward in 2026-27.
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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]
