Iowa and Iowa State Men’s Basketball Stay Busy During the Off-Season

Men’s College Basketball- Iowa and Iowa Sate’s basketball seasons have been over for a couple of weeks now, but postseason awards are starting to trickle in and other big news pertaining the basketball programs are ongoing so here’s a rundown of the recent happenings for the Hawkeyes and Cyclones.

The College Sports Communicators (CSC) released their Academic All-American teams today and Payton Sandfort for the Hawkeyes and Tamin Lipsey for the Cyclones were both named to the Second Team.

Sandfort averaged 16.4 points per game and ranked second in the Big 10 in rebounds with 6.6 per game. He is the 7th Hawkeye and 10th overall Academic All-American in program history and the first Academic All-American since 2016. The junior touts a 3.91 GPA in finance.

Lipsey became just the 8th Cyclone to be named a CSC Academic All-American and the third to do so in the same season of being named an All-American for his play on the floor (Fred Hoiberg and Melvin Ejim). He is the first to earn AP All-American and CSC Academic All-American honors in the same season. Lipsey averaged 12.4 points and 2.7 steals per game.

In other Hawkeye news, Drew Thelwell will be a Hawkeye next season after transferring from Morehead State University, so he can play out his last year of eligibility. In his four seasons with the Eagles, Thelwell averaged 7.1 points and 3 assists per game. He helped the Eagles earn two Ohio Valley Conference regular season titles and a trip to the NIT and NCAA Tournament.

Lastly, former Cyclone and current Indiana Pacer Tyrese Hailburton has been named to the 12-man roster for the 2024 USA Men’s National Team for the Paris Olympics. The two-time NBA All-Star has been on three USA Basketball rosters (FIBA World Cup, U19 World Cup, and U.S. Select Team).

They will start off their play against Serbia on July 28th, South Sudan on July 31st, and the winner of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament on August 3rd. Hailburton is one of nine Cyclones to play for USA Basketball.