During the college basketball offseason, roster building is a big key to success. With the landscape of college basketball focusing on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal, it has become more difficult to maintain a roster.
The Iowa basketball program has been in flux since firing former Head Coach Fran McCaffery last month. New Iowa Men's Basketball Head Coach Ben McCollum is attempting to build a roster from scratch after 13 players entered the transfer portal (one withdrew) and three prospects decommitted.
After failing to persuade former Hawkeyes Josh Dix (transferred to Creighton) and Pryce Sandfort (transferred to Nebraska) to return, McCollum convinced five former Drake players to follow him to Iowa. Iowa now has seven players on the roster for next season.
On Wednesday, the Iowa program received good news after a report surfaced that a top big man transfer has scheduled a visit to Iowa City.
NEWS: Duke Brennan has scheduled three visits, his agency per OG6 sports management tells @TheAthleticCBB
— Tobias Bass (@tobias_bass) April 10, 2025
Stanford - April 11-13
Villanova - April 15-17
Iowa - April 18-19
He averaged 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds
Made the All-WAC team at GCU pic.twitter.com/rUotBooOar
The agency representing Duke Brennan (OG6) contacted three schools to schedule visits. Iowa made Brennan's short list of desired destinations. Tobias Bass from the Athletic originally reported the news.
Before joining the Grand Canyon Antelopes, the six-foot-ten big man began his career at Arizona State. He averaged 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in a limited 9.1 minutes per game. After his freshman season (2022-2023), Brennan transferred to Grand Canyon University.
Brennan had a massive jump in averages during his first season with Bryce Drew and GCU. As a starter in his sophomore season (2023-2024), Brennan averaged 7.0 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 6.7 rebounds in 23 minutes per game.
Last season, Brennan averaged 10.4 points on 64.6 percent shooting and 9.2 rebounds in 27 minutes per game.
Brennan would give the Hawkeyes an element they have been missing over the past few seasons: a true rebounding and paint presence. Iowa was more offensively focused during McCaffery's tenure and only had one big average nine-plus rebounds per game in a season.
Former Iowa basketball superstar Luka Garza averaged the highest rebounds per game under McCaffery with 9.8 during the 2019-202 season.
Brennan is not an outside threat (he has only attempted three career three-pointers), but he will give the Hawkeyes a dominant post presence who can clean the glass at a high rate. A dominant big inside the paint is a key in the Big Ten, and Brennan can provide that for the Hawkeyes.
On3 Sports ranked Brennan as a four-star transfer prospect and the No. 122 overall player in the transfer portal.