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Iowa WBB Portal Checklist: Breaking Down Every Position Need

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann04/09/26HuesmannKyle

For quite some time, it seemed like the Iowa Women’s Basketball program might be immune to departures through the transfer portal. However, as we’ve found out, no program can run from the portal. Eventually there will be losses and they’ve hit the Hawkeyes this season, with five players entering their names alongside over 1,300 other players that are looking for a new home.

As it currently stands, Jan Jensen and her staff have just six players on the 2026-27 roster, which means, for the first time since the portal became commonplace, major additions to the Hawkeyes roster are needed. They have a solid core, returning four of their top six scorers, led by future All-American center Ava Heiden. Still, if Iowa is going to compete for a Big Ten title and get back to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2024, they’ll need a bit more than six players.

Current Roster (6)

Departures (9)

  • G Taylor McCabe (Graduation)
  • G Kylie Feuerbach (Graduation)
  • PF Hannah Stuelke (Graduation)
  • F Jada Gyamfi (Graduation)
  • G Addie Deal (Transfer Portal)
  • G Callie Levin (Transfer Portal)
  • G Kennise Johnson (Transfer Portal)
  • SF Emely Rodriguez (Transfer Portal)
  • F Teagan Mallegni (Transfer Portal)

HawkeyeReport breaks down the top needs for the Hawkeyes and what positions need to be filled…

1. An off-ball guard that can be plug-and-play in the starting lineup

The biggest position of need for the Hawkeyes is a plug-and-play guard to play alongside Chit-Chat Wright and Taylor Stremlow (potentially) in the starting lineup. Since there are no other guards on the roster besides those two, the coaching staff can build their backcourt however they’d like. A do it all guard would probably work best in this role. Someone that can score at all three levels and handle the basketball. That would give them three players with point guard capabilities in the starting five. Keep an eye on Georgia transfer Dani Carnegie. She played with Chit-Chat as a freshman at Georgia Tech.

Status: OPEN

2. Three-point shooting

This would be the Hawkeyes biggest need if it wasn’t for the fact that they have a spot in the starting lineup available. They return just 52.9% of their made threes from last season, after ranking 137th in threes per game, including averaging just 5.5 per game after Taylor McCabe went down with a season-ending injury. The coaching staff is set to host Lindenwood transfer Ellie Brueggemann (96 3pt) and Iowa State transfer Kenzie Hare (50 3pt), both of which would be upgrades to the teams’ perimeter shooting. If they are only able to land one of the two, Brueggemann is the top three-point shooter available in the portal.

Status: OPEN

3. A starter-caliber power forward

It will be really interesting to see how the coaching staff attacks this position and what portal names emerge. The Hawkeyes are set to bring in five-star forward McKenna Woliczko, and while she could come in and be the day one starter, we continue to hold the belief that a starter-caliber power forward to push for the starting job should be the aim here. With Hannah Stuelke and Teagan Mallegni gone and Journey Houston likely set to slide over to play the perimeter more at the 3, there’s currently no one to play the 4 with Woliczko, so an addition of some kind is needed. Can they convince a young forward to join with Woliczko being a potential three or four-year starter? Can they convince a veteran forward to join and possibly come off the bench?

Status: OPEN

4. Reliable bench contributor that plays the 2 or 3 position

Now we’re starting to get into the depths of the roster building for next season and this player can fit whatever role the coaching staff feels needs. This could be a ball handler, an off-ball guard or a wing, but whoever it is, they’ll be filling a similar role, minutes wise, to what we saw from Addie Deal this past season. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where a P4 player with any sort of notable production would want to fill this role, so we could see the staff try to go get a Molly Davis-type mid-major player that isn’t worried about playing 20-25 minutes a night.

Status: OPEN

5. Depth pieces to fill out an 11-12 player roster

It seems to be very likely that next year’s roster will only have 11 or 12 players on it, as it will already take 5-6 portal additions to get to that number. The coaching staff can check all the above boxes with flying colors, and these remaining spots will still have a bit more importance than you’d think. Looking back at last season, Taylor McCabe (14), Kylie Feuerbach (3), Chit-Chat Wright (3) and Hannah Stuelke (2) all missed games due to injury, as did Teagan Mallegni. It’s unlikely that the player that’s 11th or 12th on the roster gets any notable minutes, but it’s not impossible. The coaching staff has to get the roster to at least 11 players, but 12 players would be more comfortable.

Status: OPEN

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