By Hawk Fanatic
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ashton Williamson’s time as an Iowa basketball recruit didn’t last long.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard from Gary, Indiana is no longer committed to Iowa according to a source close to the situation.
Williamson announced his commitment to Iowa on May 21 after having played his freshman season for Florida International University where he averaged 7.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game last season.
In a recent interview with Hawk Fanatic, Williamson spoke highly about the opportunity to play for new Iowa head coach Ben McCollum.
McCollum was hired to replace Fran McCaffery, who was fired in mid-March after 15 seasons as the Iowa head coach.
“I feel like I can be pushed and coached the right way,” Williamson said. “That’s important to me because if I can’t be pushed or coached the right way, I won’t ever reach my full potential, in my opinion.”
Williamson also said that he liked that McCollum brought much of his staff with him from Drake to Iowa City.
“My relationship with the Iowa staff is so good because they’ve been recruiting and watching me for about two or three years now,” Williamson said. “So, over time, I built a little relationship that I felt was genuine after we talked in person.”
McCollum said just prior to Williamson committing that he wanted to add another point guard and a front-line player to the fill out the 2025-26 roster.
Iowa has since added 6-9 redshirt freshman forward Joey Matteoni, who recently announced his commitment. Matteoni is among six former Drake players that have joined McCollum in Iowa City.
Matteoni was redshirted at Drake this past season.
The loss of Williamson now leaves Iowa with 10 scholarship players on the 2025-26 roster and 11 overall, including walk-on guard Jacob Koch.
Iowa men’s basketball 2025-26 roster
name, height-weight, position, class, hometown
Cooper Koch, 6-8, 215, forward, redshirt freshman, Peoria, Illinois
Jacob Koch, 6-2, 180, guard, sophomore, Iowa City
Bennett Stirtz, 6-4, 180, guard, senior, Liberty, Missouri
Cam Manyawu, 6-8, 230, forward, junior, Kansas City, Missouri
Cael Combs, 6-4, 190, guard, junior, Nixa, Missouri
Isaia Howard, 6-5, 200, guard/forward, sophomore, Plattsburg, Missouri
Tavion Banks, 6-7, 200, forward, senior, Kansas City, Missouri
Trevin Jirak, 6-11, 250, center, freshman, West Des Moines
Alvaro Folgueiras, 6-9, 215, forward, junior, Malaga, Spain
Brendan Hausen, 6-4, 205, guard, senior, Amarillo, Texas
Joey Matteoni, 6-9, 215, redshirt freshman, Overland Park, Kansas