Iowa’s summer workouts have already given Ben McCollum a few clues about what his new roster can become, and one of the clearest has been Ty’Reek Coleman.
McCollum said the Hawkeyes are still sorting out the last five minutes of games, the kind of stretch that can take all of preseason - or even a few games once the season starts - before it really settles in. That’s part of why the summer scrimmages matter so much. They let him watch instincts unfold in real time.
Coleman has stood out on that end.
“Defensively, he’s been awesome,” McCollum said after Iowa’s final summer workout July 15. “Good length on the ball, twitchy.
He’s getting used to the workload. He’s doing a great job with that.
Our guys love him, great attitude, all those things.”
The transfer point guard arrived after one season at Illinois State, where he shot 50.4 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from 3-point range while helping the Redbirds reach the NIT semifinals. Iowa brought in two transfers after its Elite Eight run last season, and Coleman is the one filling the immediate need at point guard after Bennett Stirtz’s departure for the NBA.
McCollum said the Hawkeyes have also gotten a boost in another area.
“We’ve got more shooting and we’ve got more length,” McCollum said. “I think that we feel pretty good for about 35 minutes of the game right now.”
At 6-foot-2, Coleman is one of several players who can handle the ball for Iowa next season. Kael Combs returns as another primary option, and Peyton McCollum and Tate Sage are also in the mix.
Coleman said Stirtz’s belief in McCollum played a major role in his own decision to commit in the spring. The quote stuck with him while he was in the portal.
“When I was in the portal, I remembered that quote,” Coleman said, recalling Stirtz’s pitch to transfer after the Elite Eight loss. “And after hearing that final meeting with Coach, it was kind of like, I see what Stirtz is saying. This guy is somebody that can take you to that next level if you trust him, you trust the work, you trust the process.”
Coleman sees himself as a steady two-way guard, and McCollum believes the roster gives Iowa room to work through different combinations. McCollum said he has managed as many as roughly 10 players in a rotation before, and he heads into 2026-27 with a 14-man roster.
Coleman said he’s ready for the adjustment that comes with the jump in competition, especially on the defensive end.
“It’s going to be a lot of challenges,” Coleman said. “Playing against more athletic, bigger competition, so getting my body prepared for what that’s going to be like … but also, playing instinctively out of it.
I think at this level it’s going to be a lot harder defensively, so just being able to learn the right positions and learn everything that comes with the system within that. And just knocking down shots.”
For Iowa, the summer has already offered a glimpse of what Coleman can bring: defense, shooting, and another ballhandler who can help the Hawkeyes sort out those closing minutes when the games get tight.
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