In the new age of college athletics, where players can be paid to play, the transfer portal has become like the wild west.
There is no limit to how much athletes can be paid as long as the program stays within the confines of the $20.5 million revenue-sharing pool, and there are also no limits to how many times players can transfer.
Ben McCollum is getting his first true taste of the transfer portal chaos after his first season in charge of the Hawkeyes, and navigating the chaos to find the best, cost-effective players is not easy.
The reported asking prices for top talent keep going up, and if Iowa wants to compete, it'll have to pay.
The reported asking prices for top transfers ranges from $2.5 to 5 million
The Iowa athletics department has been very tight-lipped about its financial situation, and rightly so, but with Iowa's available funds unknown, it is hard to determine who they can afford to pay.
Over 1,000 players have entered the transfer portal, and if programs want to attract top-tier talent, they'd better be prepared to open their checkbooks.
The @TheFieldOf68 has polled 10-plus high-major head coaches, assistants and GM's for the following prices that elite (Top 25 guys) portal players will likely command: pic.twitter.com/hzs1Ie3XY9
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 8, 2026
According to basketball analyst and co-founder of "The Field of 68", Jeff Goodman, they polled over 10 high-major college basketball general managers, head coaches, and assistants to gauge how much money the top transfers will command.
For an elite wing (ranking in the top 25), they could earn between $2.5 to 3 million, an elite guard could earn between $3 to 4 million, and an elite big could earn between $4 to 5 million.
Those price estimates are not guarantees, but if the actual numbers players are getting mirror them, it is a stark reminder of how much the landscape of college athletics has changed.
These price tags are definitely eye-opening, and it remains to be seen whether they will deter the Iowa program from pursuing players ranked in the top 25 among all transfers.