Ben Jacobson details UNI men’s basketball newcomers after busy weeks in transfer portal

CEDAR FALLS — The Northern Iowa men’s basketball team officially announced five spring signings to its roster Wednesday, including four transfers.

After having an unprecedented seven players leave via the transfer portal after this past season, Coach Ben Jacobson enters his 19th season at UNI recruiting like never before between the months of March and May.

“It’s been a busy spring for everybody and I think that’s one of the things I’m learning and our staff (has) learned about with the transfer portal and name-image-likeness,” he said. “A year ago everybody on our roster returned and that was something we (were) very proud of. Then, this year, we got the other end of it.”

Jacobson reiterated support for student-athletes to make money through NIL, jobs or internships and for their ability to transfer.

However, he did offer a particular counterpoint to advocates of unlimited player movement that frequently draws comparisons to NBA free agency.

“It’s not like pro sports (free agency),” Jacobson said. “In professional sports you have a contract and everyone knows if that contract has three years left, has five years left or has one year left. I guess in somewhat of the simplest form, it’s easy to make that jump to, ‘oh, it’s just professional sports now and it shouldn’t be that difficult.’ Well, there’s money involved now so that takes away a lot of that feeling of amateur sports.”

Jacobson and his staff were able to reload the UNI roster with intriguing talent.

Max Weisbrod — a 6-foot-4 guard from Division II Northern Michigan — was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Player of the Year last season as a sophomore.

“To be a sophomore and to be the player of the year in that league says a lot about what the coaches and the people around that league feel about Max,” Jacobson said. “He’s played a lot of point guard; he’s big enough to play off the ball.”

Ben Schwieger — a 6-foot-7 guard from Loyola-Chicago — was an Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team honoree in 2022-23 after averaging 9.2 points per game and starting 26 of 31 games.

“He’s got really good size. He’s going to shoot a high percentage from 3. Handles it (well) for a guy at 6-7, good feel for passing,” Jacobson said. “Going to be a really good player for us.”

Cael Schmitt — a 6-2 guard from Coe College — is a four-time All-American Rivers Conference first-team honoree and two-time A-R-C defensive player of the year.

“The last two years they’ve been in the (Division III) national tournament and obviously Cael’s been a big part of that,” Jacobson said.

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Leon Bond III — a 6-5 guard from Virginia — is the Panthers’ highest profile addition from the portal. Bond was an ESPN top-100 recruit out of high school.

“Leon is (comparable to) Jeremy Morgan,” Jacobson said. “He’s going to defend multiple positions, rebound at both ends and impact the offensive game around the rim, driving it and attacking it. And we feel like — in talking with him and talking with the people around him — he’s going to be a good catch-and-shoot guy.

“There’s a lot that he brings to the table that’s going to impact winning.”

Will Hornseth — a 6-8 forward from De Pere High School in Wisconsin — is UNI’s only scholarship freshman heading into next season. However, Norwalk’s Redek Born also signed, but will redshirt and not go on scholarship until the 2025-26 season.

Jacobson confirmed to The Gazette that one scholarship remains and they’re keeping their eyes on the portal.

“We feel like we’ve got a roster that’s going to compete for our (Missouri Valley Conference) championship and going to compete to be in the NCAA tournament,” Jacobson said. “And one that’s good enough to win games if and when we get there.”