It’s not hard to spot Andrew McKeever in a crowd.
The 7-foot-3 transfer from Saint Mary’s is probably used to people staring at him in public (he’s from the same town as Randy Johnson), and though that likely gets old for him, he has embraced it on the basketball court.
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Why? Because it’s the reason he wanted to join the Iowa men’s basketball team in the first place.
“The biggest piece [in my decision to transfer] was wanting to get showcased differently and just be able to be seen on the highest level,” McKeever said at media availability Wednesday. “I feel like the Big Ten is one of the best conferences in the world, so I that’s the biggest thing.”
Though McKeever, the West Coast Conference’s leading rebounder in 2026, played in one of the most competitive mid-major conferences in the nation, the WCC didn’t come close to matching the prestige of the Big Ten.
Saint Mary’s won 82 games in McKeever’s three years in Moraga, California, but won just one NCAA tournament game in that span – including an upset loss as a No. 5 seed in 2025.
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Head coach Randy Bennett left for Arizona State after the 2025-26 campaign, opening the door for McKeever to find a new home. Many teams vied for his services, but Iowa, which made national headlines for its Elite Eight run, peaked McKeever’s interest.
McKeever admitted that he was impressed with the Hawkeyes when watching highlights of their magical run, but the most important thing that stood out to him was that he could immediately be a key focal point in the offense.
Iowa struggled in the frontcourt all season long, which ultimately contributed to its Elite Eight defeat. Head coach Ben McCollum wasn’t shy about voicing his desire to add a big man in the transfer portal during the season, and once he got McKeever to campus and laid out what role the big man would play in the offense, McKeever was sold.
“I was maybe a key piece of need [for Iowa],” McKeever said. “[They needed] a little bit more size even though their bigs were good, but they just didn’t have the height like some of the other teams did in Big Ten, so figured I could help out.”
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While some coaches will use their big men almost exclusively in the paint, that’s not what McCollum wants McKeever do do in Iowa City. Any center that plays in McCollum’s offense will always be moving and utilizing their sharp passing skills on pick-and-roll situations.
With a loaded non-conference schedule incoming (Creighton, Alabama, Iowa State), McKeever isn’t going to have a lot of time to adjust to the ragged style of Big Ten play.
But that doesn’t matter. The opportunity to play on the big stage is here, and he’s ready to embrace the challenge.
“This for me is definitely going to be new, coming from the WCC, but I mean, I’m ready for the challenge,” McKeever said. “I know it’s gonna be going to be challenging, but the guys are ready, we’ll be prepared, so it’ll be fun.”
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io
