By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The announcement on Friday that Peyton McCollum has signed with the Iowa men’s basketball team not surprisingly drew a mixed reaction on social media.

Peyton McCollum is a 6-foot-2 guard and the son of new Iowa head coach Ben McCollum.

Peyton attended Waukee Northwest High School as a senior and helped lead his team to the 2025 state championship game while averaging 13.1 points, 5.2 assists. 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

He shot 40.5 percent from 3-point range, making 53-of-131 attempts, and 84.9 percent from the free throw line.

Peyton McCollum is far from being a blue chip recruit, but he is also far from being another John Lickliter nepotism case.

For one thing, Peyton McCollum is at least three inches inches taller than John Lickliter was when he played at Iowa for his father, former Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter.

No disrespect to John Lickliter, but as a graciously listed 5-11 point guard he had no business being on a Division I basketball team, let alone a Big Ten squad, even as a walk-on.

That seemed obvious before John Lickliter ever played in a game for Iowa.

Time and performance will ultimately determine if Peyton McCollum can compete at the highest level of Division I basketball.

But you can at least see what Ben McCollum sees in his son as a sharp-shooting 6-2 guard.

The new head Hawk believes that his son deserves a chance to play for Iowa, even on scholarship, and that’s Ben McCollum’s decision to make.

As for Peyton McCollum being on scholarship, every player will be on scholarship under the soon-to-be expected NCAA settlement, so it isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be.

It will undoubtedly be met with skepticism because Iowa fans are sensitive about nepotism, and understandably so after what they’ve been through with John Lickliter, and with Brian Ferentz having served as the Iowa football team’s offensive coordinator under his father, Kirk Ferentz.

Brian Ferentz was fired as the Iowa offensive coordinator with four games left in the 2023 season.

That decision by Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz obviously didn’t sit well with Kirk Ferentz, which is why a head coach should never hire somebody they can’t fire.

Brian Ferentz also played for his father at Iowa as an offensive lineman, as did Brian’s younger brother, James Ferentz, both of whom were on scholarship and deservedly so.

Brian Ferentz and James Ferentz were both multi-year starters for Iowa.

James Ferentz would also go on to play for 11 seasons in the NFL.

He and Brian Ferentz could have played for other Division I teams because they both had some opportunities.

But they both wanted to play for their father, and they both were deserving of a scholarship, and would go on to prove it.

Kirk Ferentz also had a third son play for him at Iowa, though Steve Ferentz was never on scholarship and was buried on the depth chart as a tight end, and as an offensive lineman.

Steve Ferentz was simply given a chance by his father to be on the team as a walk-on.

Shifting back to men’s basketball, former Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery also had two of his sons play for him at Iowa.

In each case, Fran McCaffery’s son deserved to be on the roster, and to be on scholarship.

Connor McCaffery, a former 6-5 guard, spent six seasons as a Hawkeye and was a multi-year starter, while his younger brother, Patrick McCaffery, a 6-9 forward, spent five seasons as a Hawkeye and was also a multi-year starter.

Connor McCaffery was arguably the best passer on the team during much of his Hawkeye career and he could guard multiple positions, while Patrick McCaffery scored over 1,000 points as a Hawkeye.

So, it would be silly to say that Connor and Patrick were only on the team because of nepotism.

They both played for their father at Iowa because they were both good enough to play in the Big Ten.

And the same for Brian Ferentz and James Ferentz in football.

Some argued that Brian Ferentz and James Ferentz, and the McCaffery brothers, should have been walk-ons at Iowa since in both cases, their father made so much money.

But why should they have been treated differently if they were deserving to be on scholarship as all four clearly showed in college?

Friday’s announcement that Peyton McCollum has signed with Iowa came one day after the news broke that sophomore guard Ashton Williamson was no longer committed to Iowa.

However, a source close to the situation said that Peyton McCollum was coming to Iowa whether Williamson was or not, meaning the two situations are not connected.

And while it’s easy to scream nepotism whenever a college head coach makes a roster spot available for his child, each case should be judged individually, and on its own merit because each case is unique.

Peyton McCollum shouldn’t be judged differently just because his father is the head coach. It seems highly unlikely that Ben McCollum would put his son in a position to fail.

Ben McCollum must feel that his son has the potential to play for the Hawkeyes or he wouldn’t have given his son a roster spot.

And with Ben McCollum’s success as a head coach, which includes leading Drake to a 31-4 record this past season, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.