On Friday, Iowa freshman forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu officially announced his plans to enter the transfer portal. Premium subscribers knew to expect this move earlier this week.
Johnson-Arigu, a 6'7", 220 lb transfer from Miami (FL), never actually suited up for the Hawkeyes in a game. Hailing from Minneapolis, Johnson-Arigu originally chose to attend Miami (FL) out of high school and began his 2024-25 season in Coral Gables.
At Miami, Johnson-Arigu played in just eight games, totaling only 43 minutes for the Hurricanes. He averaged 1.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg, and 0.3 apg in 5.4 minutes per game in his brief appearances, highlighted by a 4-point effort against Coppin State in November. Johnson-Arigu opted to enter the transfer portal and leave Miami after head coach Jim Larrañaga abruptly retired at the end of December.
Due to Iowa's dismissal of Fran McCaffery as head coach, Johnson-Arigu and all other members of the current roster are able to enter the transfer portal within a 30-day window of the move. In addition to that, the standard transfer portal also opened for men's basketball on March 25.
After transferring to Iowa in January, Johnson-Arigu sat out the remainder of the 2024-25 season. His contribution to the Iowa program this spring was limited to being on the scout team.
"My role right now is to be on the scout team and give them the best challenge in practice every day so they can get better for the games. ... Just trying to kill them as much as possible on scout team," Johnson-Arigu said earlier this year after joining the program. "[That, and I'm] really just observing when they do their offense."
A versatile athlete with significant length, Johnson-Arigu has the ability to guard multiple positions. He also possesses solid ball-handling skills, a strong transition game, and a developing jump shot.
Johnson-Arigu will have at least three years of eligibility remaining and may have an additional year, depending on his efforts to obtain a redshirt for this season. He is the ninth player to enter the portal following the departure of McCaffery. Stay tuned to Hawkeye Beacon to follow along with full portal coverage.
