By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Way back in the mid-1990s as a sportswriter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, I started ranking the top 10 University of Iowa men’s student-athletes on a yearly basis.

I left the newspaper business nearly 10 years ago, but the top 10 list has stuck with me.

There were years when compiling the list was easy because the wrestlers would sometimes take more than half of the 10 spots during the glory years with multiple individual national champions.

That wasn’t the case this year though, with the Iowa wrestling team having finished in fifth place at the 2024 NCAA Championships, and with no individual national champion.

Two of the hardest things in compiling this list was picking who should be on top and who should be in the 10th spot.

The 10th spot came down to three worthy candidates from two different sports: NCAA 800-meter indoor champion Rivaldo Marshall and wrestlers Real Woods and Michael Caliendo, both of whom finished fourth at the NCAA Championships.

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10. Rivaldo Marshall, Jr. track and field: A native of Kingston, Jamaica, he was the NCAA champion in the 800 meters at the 2024 Indoor Championships. It marks just the second time in program history that Iowa has had an NCAA indoor champion, and the first in a running event.

He would go on to earn second-team All-America honors at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing 14th overall.

Marshall also won the 800 at the Jim Click Shootout, setting a school record in the process with a time of 1:45.86.

The fact that Marshall was picked over Woods and Caliendo for the 10th spot could suggest that wrestlers are held to a higher standard because finishing fourth nationally is impressive.

But on the other hand, Iowa wrestlers are held to a higher standard and what Marshall accomplished as an NCAA champion in track and field is extremely rare.

Woods and Caliendo both also fell short in winning a Big Ten individual title as each finished third in their weight class.

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9. Payton Sandfort, Jr. basketball: The Waukee native made third-team All-Big Ten and led Iowa in points (556) and with 94 3-point baskets last season. He also finished tied for the team lead in rebounding with a 6.6 per-game average.

Sandfort also became the first Iowa men’s basketball player to record a triple double as he finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Penn State.

The 6-foot-7 forward declared for the 2024 NBA draft and participated in the NBA Combine before withdrawing his name just hours before the deadline to retain his college eligibility.

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8. Tony Perkins, Sr., basketball: The Indianapolis native was named second-team All-Big Ten by the league’s coaches.

Perkins was one of just nine players nationally with 475-plus points, 140-plus rebounds, 150-plus assists and 50-plus steals.

The 6-4 combo guard had eight games with seven or more assists this season and 13 games with at least five assists. He led the team with 158 assists against 66 turnovers.

Perkins entered the transfer portal shortly after last season and has since transferred to Missouri for his final season.

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7. Raider Tello, Jr. baseball: The El Monte, California native made first-team all-Big Ten and second-team All-Midwest Region this season.

Tello, who plays third base, hit .357 with 60 RBI, 51 runs scored and 30 extra-base hits (19 doubles, seven home runs and four triples). He also led the team in hits, runs, double, triples and RBIs.

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6. Mike Stein, Soph. track and field: The Milford, Iowa native, and former high school pitcher, is now an emerging force in the javelin.

He was the 2024 Big Ten champion in the javelin, throwing a school record 266-4 (81.19m) and was named Men’s Field Event Athlete of the Championships.

He would go on to finish seventh at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning first-team All-America honors.

He also has qualified for the United States Olympic Trials.

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5. Brody Brecht, Jr., baseball: The hard-throwing Ankeny native overcame some early control problems to earn first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-Region honors after going 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 15 starts.

He posted five quality starts and fanned 128 batters over 78.1 innings. He also ranked fourth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.71) and seventh in total strikeouts.

Brecht is expected to enter the 2024 Major League Draft as a third-year junior and is considered a potential first-round pick.

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4. Drake Ayala, Jr., wrestling: The Fort Dodge native finished runner-up at 125 pounds at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Ayala opened the national tournament with a 10-2 major decision over No. 4 Matt Ramos (Purdue) and a tech fall in the second round over Nico Provo (Stanford).

He then won back-to-back overtime matches against Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) and Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) before falling to Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa in the final.

Iowa has had at least one wrestler in the NCAA finals every year since 1990, and in 48 of the last 49 tournaments dating back to 1975.

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3. Tory Taylor, Sr., football: The Melbourne, Australia native as a four-year starter was a master at flipping field position with his combination of power and touch.

He won the Ray Guy Award last season as the nation’s top collegiate punter, was a unanimous consensus All-American and was named Big Ten Special teams Player of the Week three times last season.

He punted a whopping 93 times last season, averaging 48.2 yards per punt, and had 40 punts that traveled at least 50 yards and 32 that were downed inside the 20.

The Chicago Bears selected Taylor in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

2. Cooper DeJean, Jr., football: He was well on his way to topping this list before suffering a broken leg in practice prior to the 11^th game against Illinois.

His ability as a shut-down cornerback, and as a punt returner made him a rare and valuable weapon.

DeJean will be remembered for having perhaps the most famous punt return in program history, even though it didn’t result in a touchdown.

At first it did, but then his punt return against Minnesota in which he spun away from multiple defenders near the Minnesota sideline before reversing field and racing into the end zone was erased due to an invalid fair catch.

DeJean’s return came late in the fourth quarter and would have given Iowa the lead in a game that it ultimately lost 12-10 at Kinnick Stadium.

Despite missing the final four games, DeJean still was a unanimous consensus All-American.

He bypassed his senior season to enter the 2024 NFL draft and was picked in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

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1. Jay Higgins, Sr., football: The Indianapolis native waited three years to be a starter, and when that opportunity finally came last season, he rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion.

He finished last season with 171 tackles, the most by a Power 5 player. The 171 tackles also tied Andre Jackson’s school record and his average of 12.2 tackles per game ranked third nationally.

Higgins led or tied for the team lead in tackles in 12 of Iowa’s 14 games last season. He also had three games with 16 or more tackles.

He received multiple All-America honors and was named first-team All- Big Ten. He was also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award.

Higgins and fellow linebacker Nick Jackson combined for 281 tackles last season, the most by a Power 5 tandem nationally.

Higgins will use his free Covid year to play one more season for Iowa.

He was named Phil Steele’s 2024 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Also considered: Real Woods, wrestling; Michael Caliendo, wrestling; Sebastian Castro, football; Kalen Walker, track and field; Nick Jackson, football; Joe Evans, football; Owen Freeman, basketball; Austin West, track and field.