As excited Iowa Hawkeyes fans endure the now sub-two month wait before the basketball season begins, the team’s social media squad has put together a documentary-like video for one of their newest additions, transfer guard Tavion Banks.
Banks, one of the numerous athletes who followed new head coach Ben McCollum over from Drake, is a junior who spent his last three seasons with the Bulldogs. Averaging a 10/5/1 split last season and shooting a lethal 52% from the field, Banks will look to provide the Hawkeyes a reliable scoring option with the flexibility to play multiple positions as-needed.
Last season, Banks was even awarded Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Man of the Year honors. New coaches bringing players from their former rosters can be a tricky subject, but in the case of Banks specifically, he brings the sort of seasoned scoring presence that any competitive team would go out on a limb for.
Iowa men’s basketball head coach Ben McCollum talks to Tavion Banks (6) as he prepares to shoot a free throw during practice June 19, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
To celebrate his arrival and give fans a proper introduction, the Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball page across their social platforms gave Banks the lens for a day, allowing him to film and walk watchers through his daily life. It’s filmed in a retro, fish-eye type manner, taking fans through his classes, time with teammates, basketball practice and more.
Grab Your Popcorn 🍿
📹 Day in the life with @tavionbanks2 pic.twitter.com/u79W97r8bN
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) September 11, 2025
“Today’s objective was to serve other people,” said Banks, at the end of the video, “so I have a calendar that helps me with that.”
“Serve people, make people smile, laugh… I feel like it was really good.”
For Hawkeyes fans who haven’t seen the team under a new banner since 2010, it’s an inspiring sentiment to see new athletes giving back to the fanbase and the community. It’s a new era for Iowa Basketball, and little things like this work to bring a positive light to what can be a tumultuous change.
Banks is joined in his transfer from Drake by four other former Bulldogs, in Bennett Stirtz, Cam Manyawu, Kael Combs and Isaia Howard. McCollum’s 2024-25 Bulldogs made a splash in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, defeating the six-seed Missouri Tigers, setting a promising precedent for the chunk of players that followed Coach McCollum to Iowa City.
With November right around the corner, fans won’t have to wait long for the new era to begin. It won’t be hard for the black and gold to get behind personalities like Banks who, with his teammates new and old, will look to build a new culture in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.