Video: Ben McCollum reacts to Iowa basketball’s Elite 8 loss to Illinois
Ben McCollum meets with media after Iowa basketball’s 71-59 loss to Illinois in the Elite Eight.
IOWA CITY — Illinois State transfer Ty’Reek Coleman has committed to Iowa basketball, he announced April 17.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 10 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in about 23 minutes per game as a true freshman.
Coleman will come to the Hawkeyes with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Coleman, who attended Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois, was a 3-star prospect and ranked tied for 365th nationally in the 2025 high school recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He chose Illinois State over offers from Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Florida International and others.
Coleman started 19 of his 35 appearances for the Redbirds last season. He scored in double figures 15 times, including a career-high 24 points against Cornell in November. He also had a 22-point, five-rebound, four-assist, four-steal performance against Murray State in February.
Coleman’s shooting efficiency was impressive, considering it’s not abnormal for younger guards to struggle in those areas. He finished the season shooting 50.4% from the field and 41.6% from deep. Coleman did not take an extremely high volume of 3-pointers. About 37% of his field goal attempts last season came from 3-point range. For comparison, that figure was at nearly 49% for Bennett Stirtz last season.
Coleman, who shot 55.7% from 2-point range, possesses an elusiveness and ability to get downhill to the basket.
Coleman shot just 70.2% from the free-throw line, but that’s not overly concerning because his numbers from the field and 3-point range indicate that he is capable of much better.
Coleman’s assist-to-turnover ratio needs work, but that’s also natural for a freshman guard. He logged five more assists than turnovers last season (62 to 57).
Statistically, Coleman made an impact on the defensive end, averaging 0.9 steals per game. But it will be interesting to see how Coleman adjusts to the physicality of the Big Ten on both ends of the floor. Listed at just 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Coleman does not have great positional size for a league like the Big Ten. Maturing physically will be important for Coleman to be able to make the jump to a higher level of competition than what he saw in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Against notable competition last season — USC, Utah State, Wake Forest, Dayton and Auburn — Coleman averaged 7.8 points per game.
Coleman excelled against USC and Auburn, combining for 33 points in those two games. He had 17 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep in the NIT semifinal against the Tigers. But he combined for just six points against Utah State, Dayton and Wake Forest, including a goose egg against the Demon Deacons.
It was a mixed bag of results, but that is also in line with the ups and downs of a freshman season. Ideally, Coleman will be able to find some more consistency. But it’s also worth keeping in mind that he is still young, and translating production from the mid-major to the power conference level is not always smooth sailing.
Iowa’s ability to replace Stirtz is one of the big storylines entering coach Ben McCollum’s second season at the helm. It would be unfair to expect Coleman to be a replica of Stirtz, a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. As long as Iowa can get good point guard play — not necessarily elite like Stirtz — and surround him with an improved supporting cast, the Hawkeyes should be in good shape.
The other good news is that Coleman still has three seasons of eligibility remaining, meaning he has the potential to develop for several seasons under McCollum, who has a track record of producing great guards.
Coleman gives Iowa another ball-handling guard to go along with Kael Combs, who will be entering his third season playing for McCollum and brings value as a defender. Combs started 33 games on Iowa’s Elite Eight team last season.
Coleman joins a young Iowa nucleus that provides optimism for the future of the program. Tate Sage, Cooper Koch and Trevin Jirak all have three seasons of eligibility remaining. Former four-star prospect Trey Thompson still has four after redshirting the 2025-26 campaign. The Hawkeyes are also bringing in a pair of four-star prospects in the 2026 high school recruiting class — Jaidyn Coon and Ethan Harris.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
