The Iowa Hawkeyes Men's Basketball program is going through a massive transition period. Iowa finished the season with a disappointing 17-16 (7-13 Big Ten) after losing their final game to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament.
Athletic Director Beth Goetz promptly fired long-time head coach Fran McCaffery a day after the Hawkeyes finished the season.
After McCaffery was fired, seven Hawkeyes entered the transfer portal, and two 2025 recruits decommitted from the program. On Wednesday, the number of transfers grew to eight.
Iowa G Luc Laketa has entered the transfer portal. Grad transfer. https://t.co/SpWRlp93Ux
— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) March 26, 2025
Senior guard Luc Laketa announced he will enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer for the 2025-2026 season.
Before coming to Iowa City, Laketa was a star guard for Hanover-Horton High School in Horton, Michigan. Laketa re-classified to the 2021 recruiting class after his 2020 season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his senior year of high school, Laketa averaged 15 points per game, shooting 60 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game en route to an all-state selection.
After becoming a preferred walk-on at Iowa, Laketa played sparingly in three seasons. He never averaged more than three minutes per game during his career.
Laketa's father, Parker Laketa, coached with former Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery in the 1990s at the University of Notre Dame.
Laketa leaves the Hawkeyes' program shortly after Ben McCollum was hired as Fran McCaffery's replacement. McCollum has an uphill battle rebuilding an Iowa Hawkeyes roster with six remaining players.