Every Iowa fan needs to personally thank Creighton head coach Greg McDermott for retiring after this season.
Shortly after Ben McCollum was hired to replace Fran McCaffery, he went back to his old stomping grounds in Storm Lake, Iowa, to recruit an extremely talented athlete named Jaidyn Coon.
Coon had multiple offers on the table from Creighton, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, and TCU before ultimately committing to the Creighton Blue Jays. After a short time and an official visit to Iowa City, everything flipped in favor of the Hawkeyes.
Coon announced he is committing to Iowa Men's Basketball
In an unforeseen move, McDermott retired as Creighton's head coach, prompting Coon to reopen his commitment, and it worked out extremely well for the Hawkeyes.
In a huge recruiting win for Ben McCollum and the Iowa program, the in-state star is staying in Iowa and joining the program next season.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with an opportunity of a life time, I dreamed as a kid playing at the collegiate level. Lastly I wanna thank everyone who has supported me throughout this process! GO HAWKS🐤#committed pic.twitter.com/eWjGVnpJI3
— Jaidyn Coon (@CoonJaidyn32) April 2, 2026
Coon decided to stay home and make the nearly four-hour trip from Storm Lake to Iowa City to join the Hawkeyes next season.
Coon is now the second big commitment in the 2026 class for the Hawkeyes after the program received a commitment from Washington's No. 1 overall prospect, Ethan Harris.
With both Harris and now Coon heading to Iowa City, McCollum has two versatile, lengthy players being added to a group that already has Cooper Koch, Tate Sage, and Isaia Howard.
McCollum now has depth at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward, with the ability to mix and match multiple talented players on both ends of the floor.
Coon has the potential to be an immediate factor and is joining a young nucleus that includes Sage (sophomore), Koch (sophomore), and Howard (junior), as well as Trevin Jirak (sophomore) and Trey Thompson (RS freshman).