Cooper Koch withdraws name from the transfer portal, will return to Iowa basketball
Freshman forward Cooper Koch announced he’d return to Iowa next season, less than two weeks after entering his name in the transfer portal, .
Koch, who played ten games last season before ending his season due to an undisclosed injury, entered the portal after Fran McCaffery was fired.
“After speaking with coach (Ben) McCollum, I believe his vision for the men’s basketball team is one that aligns with mine,” said Koch in a social media post. “With that being said, I have decided to withdraw my name from the transfer portal and stay home.”
Koch is the son of former Hawkeye J.R. Koch, who played for the Hawkeyes from 1995-1999.
McCollum is also pursuing junior Josh Dix and sophomore Pryce Sandfort, who both entered the transfer portal, but could return to Iowa.
“We are excited to have Cooper return to our program next season,” said McCollum. “I have enjoyed getting to know Cooper over the past week and I feel like he’s going to be a key piece for our team moving forward with his ability to shoot the basketball.
“I also want to thank our fans for assisting us in getting Cooper to return. We need to continue to push the envelope with Josh (Dix) and Pryce (Sandfort) to let them each know how important they are to Hawkeye Nation.”
Iowa has lost several members of its roster to other schools, including sophomores Owen Freeman and Brock Harding, who transferred to Creighton and TCU respectively.
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