By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – In a perfect world, which for about a week seemed to be where the Iowa men’s basketball team was staying, an established point guard at the Power 4 level, and a front-line player with size and shooting ability would soon be joining the program as part of this recruiting cycle.

In the real world, however, Ben McCollum still has to make that happen, with help from his assistant coaches.

They have to move on from Saturday’s 71-59 loss to Illinois in the Elite Eight and start piecing together next season’s roster, which will not include All-Big Ten point guard Bennett Stirtz, who has exhausted his eligibility.

The attention that came from advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987 should only help with recruiting, because everyone likes a winner, and Ben McCollum has certainly won his share of games along the way.

McCollum is hot right now, some even going as far as calling him a coaching genius, who is just now finally getting the respect and attention that he deserves after spending all but this season coaching at either the Division II or mid-major level.

It’s reasonable to believe that Iowa should receive an uptick in NIL contributions coming off the NCAA Tournament run, and that would certainly help with recruiting, and with keeping players on the roster.

But will it be enough for Iowa to recruit effectively against the blue bloods and traditional powers this offseason?

Or will McCollum even feel the need to do that, considering how many options there will be in the portal?

McCollum already has shown with Stirtz’s success this season that he can develop point guards at the highest level.

McCollum also can recognize talent and potential when others apparently don’t see it, considering McCollum was about the only college coach to offer Stirtz a scholarship coming out of high school in Missouri.

Stirtz already was recruiting for Iowa, and for McCollum, in the moments after Saturday’s loss to Illinois in the Elite Eight.

“I think if you want to be a great point guard, you should come to Iowa,” Stirtz said while surrounded by reporters near his locker. “If you want to be a great player, a great big, a great shooter, come play for Iowa.

“This coaching staff is the best in the country. So why wouldn’t you?”

Multiple point guards already have entered the portal, including 6-foot Jackson Shelstad, who played for Oregon the past three seasons, though this season was cut short by a hand injury.

Shelstad averaged 13.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in his three seasons in Eugene.

The 20-year-old will likely have two years of eligibility remaining after applying for a medical redshirt season for his injury-riddled 2025-2026 campaign. Shelstad also led the Ducks to two NCAA Tournament appearances in his first two seasons.

The competition for Shelstad should be fierce with schools such as Arizona, Gonzaga, and Florida being mentioned as possible landing spots.

LSU’s Dedan Thomas Jr. is another point guard whose season was cut short by an injury this season, but has since entered the portal.

Prior to suffering a foot injury, the 6-1 Thomas was averaging 15.3 points and 6.5 assists per game. The Tigers were 12-4 before Thomas was injured and only managed to pick up three more wins on the year.

Thomas only has one season of eligibility remaining.

Delaware’s Christian Bliss, a 6-4 sophomore, is yet another intriguing option in the portal. He joined Derrick Rose as the only freshmen in Conference-USA history to average at least 10 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game this season. Bliss had a breakout season this winter, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 boards, 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

These are just three examples of established guards that already have entered the portal, and there will certainly be more to come.

This isn’t to suggest that any of the three will be interested in Iowa, or that Iowa will pursue any of the three.

It’s just showing some of the backcourt options that are already in the portal.

Iowa also has a potential candidate for the point guard position already on the roster in 6-4 junior Kael Combs, who came on strong down the stretch this season while handling some of the point guard responsibilities.

Combs is one of six former Drake players that followed McCollum to Iowa, so they have a history together.

One of the top frontline players to enter the portal so far is 6-8 junior Paulius Murauskas from Saint Mary’s where he averaged nearly 20 points per game on 48.2-percent shooting from the field this past season.

He will almost certainly draw attention from the blue bloods and other traditional powers.

McCollum said to the media after Saturday’s loss in Houston that adding more size on the frontline will be a priority this offseason.

Junior forward Alvaro Folgueiras is listed at 6-10 and was certainly a key factor in Iowa’s postseason run.

But he didn’t play significant minutes in the loss to Illinois apparently because he lacked the girth and strength to hold up against Illinois’ size.

“We needs some size, ” McCollum said. “This was a tough game. This was hard.

“That’s another part of it; this was a tough game for Alvaro, too, because of the size down there.”

Iowa currently has one player in its 2026 recruiting class – 6-8, four-star forward Ethan Harris from Camas, Washington, who signed a letter of intent in November.

“Ethan is the definition of the type of player we are looking for to build the Hawkeye culture,” McCollum said in the release announcing that Harris had signed with Iowa. “He’s super competitive, has great versatility, can play a guard position and go inside if need be.  We’re excited about the future with Ethan.”