Iowa continues to be active in the transfer portal as Ben McCollum and his staff look to fill out their first Hawkeye roster ahead of the 2025-26 season. The latest addition is another player with a lot of familiarity to McCollum and much of his staff: Drake forward Joey Matteoni.
Matteoni's transfer to Iowa was announced and confirmed on Monday afternoon.
Matteoni, a 6'9", 215-lb forward originally from Overland Park, Kansas, has been on McCollum's radar for a while. He originally signed a National Letter of Intent to play for McCollum at Northwest Missouri State, then became the first high school player to sign for McCollum after he took over the Drake job. Now he's followed McCollum to Iowa City as well.
A Class of 2024 recruit, Matteoni took a redshirt during the 2024-25 season and did not compete for the Bulldogs. He has four years of eligibility remaining.
“Joey can do a variety things – he can trigger your offense, finish and shoot,” said McCollum. “He will be a great addition to help us with our depth in the post.”
Matteoni was a first-team all-state player at Blue Valley Northwest in Overland Park, Kansas and helped lead the Huskies to a Kansas Class 6A state championship in 2023. As a senior, he averaged 19.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 64% from the field.
Depth in the front court has been a priority for Iowa in the transfer portal and Matteoni should help address those concerns. At 6'9", 215 lbs, Matteoni isn't the biggest front court option, but he should be able to give Iowa some minutes in the post.
Iowa has added six players from last year's Drake roster: Bennett Stirtz, Kael Combs, Cam Manyawu, Isaia Howard, Tavion Banks, and now Joey Matteoni. In addition to those six, the Hawkeyes have also added Robert Morris transfer big Alvaro Folgueiras, Kansas State transfer guard Brendan Hausen, Florida International guard Ashton Williamson, and incoming freshmen Trevin Jirak and Tate Sage. Cooper Koch is the only player from last year's Iowa roster to remain on the 2025-26 roster.
Stay tuned to Hawkeye Beacon for our continued coverage of Iowa's efforts to fill out the roster for McCollum's first year as the Hawkeyes' head coach.
