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The Big 10 will be going through some changes in men’s college basketball up top this season, as household names like Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza are off to the NBA. There is still plenty of star power though, as Juwan Howard has brought in an elite recruiting class at Michigan, our guy Trevion Williams is back for his swan song season at Purdue. and even the bottom half of the conference has useful fantasy options sprinkled throughout.
Big 10 slates are a grind, so getting a head start on info about this conference will serve you well in putting you above the rest of the field. Join me on this journey as we preview the Big 10 teams from a DFS perspective.
In this one, Iowa.
(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)
Iowa Hawkeyes 2021-2022 Season Preview
2020-2021 record: 22-9 (14-6 Big 10), third in Big 10
Postseason: Lost in NCAA tournament second round
Key Departures | Iowa Hawkeyes
- Luka Garza (playing professionally)
- Joe Wieskamp (playing professionally)
- CJ Frederick (transferred to Kentucky)
- Jack Nunge (transferred to Xavier)
Key Additions | Iowa Hawkeyes
- Filip Rebraca (transferred from North Dakota)
- Payton Sandfort (3 star recruit)
Returners | Iowa Hawkeyes
- Keegan Murray (7.2 PPG/5.1 RPG)
- Jordan Bohannon (10.6 PPG/3.1 RPG/4.4 APG)
- Connor McCaffery (3.3 PPG/3.1 RPG/3.6 APG)
- Patrick McCaffery (5.2 PPG/2.7 RPG)
- Joe Toussaint (3.7 PPG/1.2 RPG/2.4 APG)
- Tony Perkins (1.6 PPG)
Iowa Hawkeyes Outlook for 2021-2022
The post-Luka Garza era starts now and it’s going to be weird seeing the Hawkeyes take the court without him. They’ll also be without Joe Wieskamp, the yin to Garza’s yang. With all this production gone, who will step up?
The obvious choice is sophomore Keegan Murray. The reigning first-team All Freshman selection last year has massive upside heading into this season. He stepped in and started games late last year, so he is well prepared for the day-to-day grind of Big 10 basketball. He had 7.2% block rate (best on the team), a 30% combined rebounding rate and a 2.6% steals rate. He is definitely someone we are going to be talking about a lot this year.
Love him or hate him, Jordan Bohannon is back for his super senior year. Bohannon has destroyed a lot of teams as chalk throughout his career so hopefully the sites price him correctly this season, because I just can’t take another year of this. He is a career 40% three-point shooter and will provide valuable guidance to this otherwise young team. His assist rate was hovering around 24% last year, and I think his willingness to act as a mentor this season will be critical to the Hawkeyes success.
The McCaffery brothers should see plenty of minutes this year with Connor acting as a sort of “glue guy” while Patrick is a scorer who could develop into the next Joe Wieskamp. Joe Toussaint’s maturation will be important to this team as well and if he is ready to help guide the offense as a facilitator it would take a lot of pressure off Bohannon. Don’t expect transfer Filip Rebraca to be the second coming off Luka Garza but he is an above average post scorer that excels at defensive rebounding. He had a 23 and 6 game against Minnesota last year, which is encouraging since he will be needed against upper-tier competition.
(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams, top 100 players and top 25 impact freshmen for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)
Summary
This is another Big 10 squad that really doesn’t move the needle for fantasy to start the year. The post-Luka Garza era could be tough at first for Iowa fans, but they have enough high-IQ basketball players to be competitive. Keegan Murray is the one to watch as he could turn into a legit all Big 10 performer while Jordan Bohannon, the McCaffery brothers and Filip Rebraca will have usefulness at various points in the season.
