Amidst summer workouts, the Iowa Hawkeyes received some excellent news as Trey Thompson, originally ranked as a top 60 recruit in the 2026 class, announced his commitment to the Iowa. Along with that news, he said he will be joining the Hawks for the 2025-26 season. With the adjustment he’s rated 115th. Ben McCollum beat out Purdue, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt for the 4-star forward.

Thompson hails from Greenville, Tennessee so McCollum’s ability to identify him as a player who could help the Hawks (this year), develop that relationship, and sell him on the program’s vision did not have the typical tailwinds of past highly rated Hawkeye recruits as legacies or hometown players. As Eliot Clough tweeted – it was a six week process for this to come together.

As far as what this means for the team, Iowa’s added depth at forward, a key gap in this year’s roster. While there remains no true big outside of fellow freshman Trevin Jirak, Ben McCollum has added another big wing who can stretch the floor and provide some length within his defensive scheme.

Thompson outpaces Iowa’s other true freshmen recruits in terms of accolades so concerns about McCollum’s ability to land bigger fish is allayed here. Thompson was very complimentary of the Hawkeye staff in his recent visits. From 247’s Sean Bock:

As far as the reclassification, it’s notable at this point in time since Cooper Flagg, this year’s #1 draft pick, also moved up a year to play with Duke in 2024-25. Marvin Bagley is another former Blue Devil who jumped up a year. The other end of the spectrum is Riley Mulvey who joined Iowa’s 2020-21 class amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19 and never really found his footing in the black & gold.

Welcome aboard, Trey!

Updated Hawkeye Roster

Senior

Junior

Sophomore

Freshman

C/O 2026

Senior

Junior

Sophomore

Freshman

C/O 2026

G – Bennett Stirtz (6’4″, 180 lbs)

F – Cam Manyawu (6’8″, 230 lbs)

G – Isaia Howard (6’4″, 180 lbs)

F – Cooper Koch (6’8″, 215 lbs, RS)

G – Navon Shabazz (6’4″, 170 lbs)

G – Brendan Hausen (6’4″, 180 lbs)

G – Kael Combs (6’4″, 190 lbs)

G – Jacob Koch (6’2″, 180 lbs)

C – Trevin Jirak (6’11”, 260 lbs)

F – Tavion Banks (6’7″, 200 lbs)

F – Alvaro Folgueiras (6’9″, 215 lbs)

F – Tate Sage (6’7″, 195 lbs)

G – Peyton McCollum (6’2″, 170 lbs)

F – Joey Matteoni (6’9″, 215 lbs, RS)

F – Trey Thompson (6’8″, 220 lbs)