On Thursday, 2026 three-star point guard out of Iowa United Prep, Navon Shabazz shared with Hawkeye Beacon that he has reaffirmed his commitment to Iowa. The news was shared with premium subscribers on Wednesday evening.

After previously committing to Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes, Shabazz has elected to stick to his commitment, wanting to play for newly hired head men's basketball coach, Ben McCollum.

"I wanted to stay with my commitment because I’m all about winning," Shabazz told Hawkeye Beacon. "Playing for a winning coach and being around winners is what I’m about."

A native of the Quad Cities, Shabazz said from the beginning of his recruitment that playing close to home would be an important factor in his decision.

"It really came down to playing in front of my family," he said following his initial commitment. "Davenport is only an hour away, so all my family can come to the games."

Prior to playing with United on the national scene, Shabazz played for Davenport Assumption, leading the Knights to a 3A state championship his sophomore year. That season, he put up 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

"We think he's a five-star -- not just because of what he does on the court, but he's a tremendous kid," Assumption head coach Joe Ewen said last spring. "He works harder than anybody, because he wants to be a great basketball player."

For now, he's getting a bit of the college treatment in Des Moines with United, being coached by former Iowa hooper, Dean Oliver, who played under Dr. Tom Davis in his final two seasons at Iowa. Davis's teams were who McCollum idolized as a kid.

"I grew up in the Tom Davis days when they used to press, get up and down," McCollum said in his introductory presser. "You saw Chris Street on the ball, flying around. They'd get steals, and I can rattle off half their teams' names."

One has to assume Shabazz will get a bit of insight into the era when Oliver played for the Hawkeyes under the tutelage of Davis -- the last time Iowa reached the Sweet 16. That, and he'll get some Division I caliber coaching, as Oliver served as an assistant at North Dakota, Illinois State and Wisconsin for the past 13 years prior to taking the position with United. .

"The decision to play here was really based on developing my mind and my body for the next level -- staying in the gym, constantly working," Shabazz said of playing for the prep school last summer. "Getting up at 5:30 in the morning every day, that's going to help me for the next level. If I want to be one of the greats, I have to do this type of thing. Doing this now -- it'll help me at Iowa."

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