Ben McCollum adds to his Iowa men’s basketball coaching staff with an import from Texas Tech

Luke Barnwell, an assistant coach on Texas Tech’s Elite Eight men’s basketball team in the season just ended, has joined Ben McCollum’s first Iowa coaching staff.

Barnwell was at Texas Tech for two years. This season’s Red Raiders went 28-9 and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Before that, Barnwell was the head boys’ basketball coach for 10 years at Sunrise Christian Academy where he was named the 2021 and 2022 Naismith High School Boys Coach of the Year.

“I have known Luke for a number of years,” said McCollum in a press release. “He is an elite recruiter, excellent coach and has had a ton of success at the prep level. He also has a lot of experience at the Power 5 level with one of the top coaches in the country in Grant McCasland. We’re excited to have Luke join our program.”

Iowa’s other three announced assistants -- Bryston Williams, Josh Sash and Connor Wheeler -- were with McCollum at Drake in the 2024-25 season.

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