Hawkeye Sports recap for the first week of April

During the first week of April, the Iowa Hawkeyes had a busy week in sports. Iowa Men's Basketball made multiple headlines, Iowa Women's basketball had two people recognized, and baseball stayed hot.

Men's Basketball added two new assistant coaches

The Iowa Men's Basketball program had a busy first week of April. After Ben McCollum was hired, his coaching staff still needed to take shape. On April 1, two former Drake Bulldogs assistant coaches followed McCollum to Iowa City.

Josh Sash

Josh Sash joined McCollum's coaching staff after coaching with him at Drake. Sash, an Oskaloosa, Iowa native, has over 20 years of coaching experience.

Before joining McCollum at Drake, Sash was the Head Coach at Des Moines Area Community College (2019-2020) and Indian Hill Community College (2023-2024).

Sash compiled a 58-10 overall record at his previous two stops and was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year (2020).

Sash is also the older brother of Iowa Football legend Tyler Sash.

Bryston Williams

Iowa Men's Basketball also added Bryston Williams to its coaching staff. Before joining McCollum at Drake, Williams was McCollum's first recruit at Northwest Missouri State. He started 71 games for McCollum at Northwest Missouri State.

Before becoming an assistant coach under McCollum, Williams was a collegiate assistant coach at Indiana State (2021-2023) and Wyoming (2023-2024).

Williams was also an assistant coach in the NBA and the NBA G-League. He coached in the G-League for the Iowa Energy (2016-2017) and the Memphis Hustle (2017-2018).

Between 2018 and 2022, Williams was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons. During his time with the Pistons, he was in charge of the mechanical shooting program, pre/post-practice workouts, postgame reports, and film breakdown.

Five former Drake Bulldogs commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes

During the first week of April, the Iowa Men's Basketball program dipped in the transfer portal five times. All five players were transfers from Drake University.

Bennett Stirtz joined the Hawkeyes after being named the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Player and Newcomer of the Year. Stirtz averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game for the Bulldogs.

Stirtz was followed by Kael Combs, Cam Manyawu, Isaia Howard, and 2025 MVC Sixth Man of the Year Tavion Banks.

All five players were crucial in Drake's program-record 31-win season in 2024-2025.

Jan Jensen and Lucy Olsen receive recognition

On April 2, Iowa Women's Basketball Head Coach Jan Jensen was named the Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year.

The award is presented to first-year head coaches who have on-court success during their first season. In Jensen's first season, the Hawkeyes finished with a 23-11 (10-8 Big Ten) record and an NCAA Tournament berth.

On April 3, Iowa senior guard Lucy Olsen also received recognition. After the 2024-2025 season, Olsen was named an All-American Honorable Mention.

Last season, Olsen averaged a team-high 17.9 points and 5.1 assists in 34 minutes per game.

During her senior season, Olsen eclipsed 2,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, and 500 career assists.

Iowa Baseball stays hot

After the first week of April, the Hawkeyes stayed hot on the diamond. Iowa Baseball picked up two big wins on Tuesday night against Bradley and in the series-opening game against Northwestern on Friday afternoon.

In the game against Bradley, the Hawkeyes picked up 13 runs on eight hits and had a whopping 14 walks in a 13-3 victory.

Iowa scored five runs in the first inning after seven walks and an error. The Hawkeyes would add four more runs in the fifth inning and three runs in the seventh inning.

After making his second career start, freshman pitcher Jaron Bleeker picked up the win. He gave up one run and struck out one batter in one inning.

The Hawkeyes smashed the Northwestern Wildcats 12-1 in the Friday afternoon game.

Junior pitcher Cade Obermueller pitched a complete game, and struck out a career-high 12 batters in the win. Obermueller is the first Hawkeyes pitcher to throw a complete game since 2021.

The Hawkeyes smashed 10 hits and batted .500 with runners in scoring position to earn their 11th Big Ten win.

The Hawkeyes have two more games against the Wildcats to finish the series. They play at 1:00 p.m. Central Time on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Evanston, Illinois.