(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)

Luke Burhans
Mon, Oct 5, 2026

We are now under a month until the Hawkeyes open the 2026-27 season vs Lipscomb in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. There is a lot to be excited about for Iowa fans as we enter Year two under Ben McCollum following a remarkable campaign in Year one. Perhaps the most intriguing piece of the puzzle this time around is 7’3 transfer Andrew McKeever.

Hawkeye fans have seen a lack of size in the Big Ten for a while now. Last season, Iowa’s tallest player consistently in the rotation was 6’9 junior Cam Manyawu. The lack of size possibly cost Iowa a Final Four appearance last season. The Hawkeyes had a strong first half vs Illinois in the Elite Eight but collapsed in the second, in large part due to a 38-21 rebounding edge in Illinois’ favor and a 16-8 advantage on the offensive glass.

Head coach Ben McCollum stressed the need for size after this and knew he had to go find his big man in the transfer portal. He took action when 7’3 Andrew McKeever entered the transfer portal out of Saint Mary’s. Andrew McKeever later committed to Iowa, and now going into this season, the Hawkeyes have some newfound size at the center position.

With all the hype surrounding Andrew McKeever and what he could bring to the table this season, I wanted to dig deeper into his game and see beyond the stats and highlights. I went back and watched a large portion of McKeever’s minutes at Saint Mary’s. Here are some key things I picked up on.

Rim Protection

When Andrew McKeever officially committed to Iowa, I immediately got excited about having another good rim protector alongside Cam Manyawu in this already stacked defense that Iowa has built. However, looking at McKeever’s game when it comes to rim protection, the flaws jumped out to me right away.

I noticed that he had a difficult time understanding how to use his length. He was biting on a lot of pump fakes, getting beat on up-and-unders, and smaller opponents had the ability to knock him off balance physically and finish over him.

This was a big reason that Saint Mary’s was dominated in their first round game vs Texas A&M. 6’7 Rashaun Agee was dominating 7’3 Andrew McKeever by completely out-physicalling him on offense.

The coaching staff is certainly going to harp on him to stay on his feet. He averaged 2.1 fouls per game and 0.8 blocks per game, which is a below average block-to-foul ratio at his size. Look for rim protection to be something that Iowa’s coaching staff works on significantly with Andrew McKeever.

Rebounding

Andrew McKeever thrives on the glass. It is easily the best part of his game. He averaged 9.2 rebounds while playing 23.2 minutes per game.

He is constantly in the right spot at the right time on the glass because he is usually on the blocks, and he does a good job using his size to seal and secure the rebound.

At the very least, McKeever will be an excellent rebounder to add to this team. That is why the floor is so high and getting a guy like Andrew was such a crucial addition this offseason. Added offensive possessions make or break basketball games at every level.

Playmaking

Ben McCollum has raved about the potential Andrew McKeever has to be an extremely good passer in his system. After watching tape on him, I do see where Coach McCollum is coming from. The flashes are there.

McKeever is an extremely willing passer at the 5 when he catches on the block with a defender sealed. He showed some really good vision at times, hitting teammates on cuts from the post.

I do worry about his decision making, though. Andrew showed many times last season where he tried to force passes that were not there, and his timing was not all that great on kickouts as well.

Another concern I have is his ability to play on the perimeter. In Coach McCollum’s system, you are constantly seeing big men out on the perimeter getting involved in handoff actions, as well as playing an offensive hub role at the top of the key, which we have seen an increase in during open practice this offseason.

I noticed that he looked very uncomfortable when he had the ball outside of the paint for Saint Mary’s, and he had some costly turnovers from being careless with the basketball.

McKeever averaged 1.7 turnovers per game in 23 minutes per game, which would have been the second most on Iowa last year behind Bennett Stirtz’s 1.8 turnovers per game.

This is another thing that Iowa’s staff is going to work a lot on with him. We have seen a lack of patience with careless basketball when Folgueiras would make some poor decisions and would not see the floor as much because of it.

Pick and Roll Defense

McKeever is going to be put into a lot of pick and roll actions throughout the season, and it is very important that he does a good job defending it.

At Saint Mary’s, I took away that I thought he did a solid job defending the P&R. Andrew McKeever moves like you would expect a 7’3 big man to move. He is not quick by any means, but he does a good job reacting to the P&R.

What hurt him most was guards that had the ability to shoot the mid range pull up because he could not get far enough out to guard it.

Other than that, he did a good job limiting the damage out of the action, and as long as his rim protection improves, I don’t believe there is much to worry about with McKeever being put in the pick-and-roll.

IQ

Everyone puts all the attention on guards when it comes to IQ, but being a good center comes with being smart on the basketball court, and this is one thing I believe Andrew McKeever lacks at times.

Watching his film, the main reason for his turnover problems is his IQ. He makes a lot of high degree of difficulty passes that don’t pan out well.

This also traces back to his rim protection, where he had a very difficult time staying on his feet even on guys that were 8 inches shorter than him.

A moment that really stuck out to me is when Saint Mary’s was playing Davidson. Ian Platteuw made three 3 pointers the entire season on eleven attempts, and McKeever ran him off the line and gave up a wide open dunk.

Moments like that will get you sat on the bench in seconds with Ben McCollum’s short leash.

Finishing

The overall biggest flaw I saw in Andrew McKeever’s game was his ability to finish at the rim.

At his size and with his rebounding ability, he gets a lot of great looks to finish at the rim for easy points. That is something that the coaching staff is going to ask of him, to finish at the rim and score out of post ups, as well as slips and offensive rebounds.

McKeever just overall struggles to finish consistently around the rim. There are times when he is trying to finish that it is almost hard to tell which hand he wants to use to score the basketball.

He shot just 50 percent from the field last season, which is extremely poor for his style of play. They are going to work with his finishing big time going into this season and throughout.

He did show flashes of a decent hook shot, as well as the ability to slip around defenders to score in the post, but he just has to improve with his touch.

He gets fouled a whole lot around the rim, and he is a guy that you’re going to see at the free throw line a lot this year. Free throw shooting is something that he has improved on a lot but still needs some work at 62.8% last season, with some ugly misses in there.

There is a huge upside to Andrew McKeever’s game and what he can bring to this team, especially with rebounding, and he is a guy that is going to play a large role for Iowa this season. I am really interested to see what McKeever looks like once he gets more comfortable in this system. If the coaching staff can get him playing with more discipline and confidence, I think Iowa could have a very good player on its hands.

However, do not expect it to be flawless early. I can guarantee that this coaching staff is going to help Andrew McKeever a lot, and if he puts it all together, he truly has the potential to be an All-Big Ten player and be an NBA prospect in his future.

But there is certainly work to be done with Andrew McKeever.