While football season is in full swing, it doesn’t mean we can’t dabble in some basketball prep ahead of the first tip-off on November 3rd! First up in the player previews is transfer big, Andrew McKeever!
The Hawkeyes unexpected Elite 8 run ended with a familiar foe in the Illinois Fighting Illini. What was front and center during that game was Iowa’s struggle to lock down the defensive boards. In that game, Illinois rebounded 16 out of their 30 misses, good for an offensive rebounding rate of 55.2%. Yikes.
While it wasn’t necessarily a season-long issue as the Hawks allowed a rate of 29.2% overall (199th in the country) and 28.4% in conference play (6th), it was a team effort with nobody gathering more than 20% of opponent misses. Nobody averaged more than 5 a game. So there was a clear need, especially as Alvaro Folgueiras transferred out.
That’s where Andrew McKeever comes in. The 7’3” 300 pound(!!!) center is just what the doctor ordered for a roster which experienced relatively little turnover otherwise. The 4th year big was a key piece on a Saint Mary’s team which went 27-6 last season and made the NCAA Tournament. He appears to have added 15 pounds to hit 3 bills since joining the Hawks so it looks like the strength & conditioning program is taking hold.
The eye-popping stat from the California big man is that he was 2nd in the country in offensive rebounding rate at 19.8%. That’s right. His OFFENSIVE rebounding is in line with Iowa’s best defensive rebounders. His 9.2 rebounds/game led the WCC in just 23.8 minutes of play, mostly off the bench.
By coming off the bench, it highlights that McKeever remains a bit of a project. In the tape above, they mentioned he was previously a 6’2” guard before experiencing a huge growth spurt. Some of that passing comes through. He is a willing screener and defender. Against Seattle, he was a point shy of his career high at 15 in the contest.
He mostly got them via post-ups but is a willing screener on and off ball. He’s got ball skills and can find passers or get his own layup from the elbow. He is such a load, he can draw fouls by just leaning on dudes and making it tough for them.
The question will obviously be: how does it translate? He averaged just 8.2 points a game on 50% shooting. He shot 62.5% from the free throw line. So it’s unlikely he immediately becomes a potent scorer in the Big Ten.
Defensively, he uses his size well to make shots difficult and at 3.7 fouls called/40 minutes, he is in line with Iowa’s 2024-25 posts. Despite making shots difficult, there were a couple blow-bys where Seattle was able to finish. His lateral quickness looks to be better than Trevon Jirak, who has a similar story as a player who grew a lot in high school, but it is not elite.
His size is undeniable, though, and he absolutely fits the second biggest need behind backfilling Bennett Stirtz. Ben McCollum can (and will) be a mad scientist with how he deploys him. Given 3 out of last year’s 5 starters are returning, there’s a chance he slides into that 5th spot (presuming Tate Sage joins the returners).
I’m very much looking forward to seeing McKeever in action because there has never this amount of size down low in the black & gold.
