Iowa Men's Basketball loses its tenth player to the transfer portal

The Hawkeyes continue to lose players to the transfer portal. Iowa Men's Basketball is undergoing major changes following the 2024-2025 season. The Hawkeyes fired 15-year Head Coach Fran McCaffery after the team limped to a 17-16 (7-13 Big Ten).

The Hawkeyes were eliminated in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

Former Drake Bulldogs Men's Basketball Head Coach and Iowa native Ben McCollum replaced McCaffery on March 24 as the rebuild began.

After Fran McCaffery was fired, 10 Hawkeyes entered the transfer portal (nine remained after Cooper Koch withdrew), and three prospects have decommitted from the program. The number of transfers jumped to 11 on Friday.

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu was a mid-season transfer portal pickup for the Hawkeyes after he transferred from the University of Miami. Johnson-Arigu arrived in Iowa City after the Hurricanes' longtime Head Coach, Jim Larrañaga, stepped down.

Johnson-Arigu played sparingly in his freshman season at Miami. In eight games played, Johnson-Arigu averaged 1.0 points and 0.8 rebounds in eight minutes per game.

Before committing to the Hawkeyes, he was ranked as the No. 175 transfer in the transfer portal by On3 Sports.

Before committing to Miami, the six-foot-seven Johnson-Arigu was rated a three-star prospect and was ranked as the No. 147 overall prospect by 247 Sports. He is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

After high school, Johnson-Arigu had offers from Iowa, Northwestern, Texas Tech, and Virginia Tech before deciding to go to Miami. The situation surrounding the Miami basketball program and Larrañaga stepping down led to Johnson-Arigu's transfer to Iowa.

After dealing with another coaching change in Iowa City, Johnson-Arigu re-entered the transfer portal after three months.

Johnson-Arigu practiced with Iowa, but did not appear in any games.