IOWA CITY, IOWA (KCAU) – Lights were out and mics were cranked up in Iowa City on Monday afternoon for Iowa men’s basketball media day, giving the Hawkeye faithful its first sounds from a new look Hawks squad ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Coming off a 19-14 season that ended with a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament, the Black and Gold said farewell to familiar faces and loads of production. Gone is big man Filip Rebraca, three-point specialist Conner McCaffery, and their biggest weapon in current Portland Trailblazer Kris Murray.

Nevertheless, in comes a freshman class of Brock Harding, Ladji Dembele, Owen Freeman, and younger brother of Payton Sandfort, Pryce. Four freshman whom head coach Fran McCaffery expects to play and make an impact right away. A young core of pieces Iowa hopes can elevate them to the next level.

“Young guys have done really well and I’m not surprised,” Iowa men’s basketball head coach Fran McCaffery said. “We expected all four of them to contribute. Brock has made a seamless transition. Pryce Sandfort, we all know what he is. Those two guys are Mr. Basketball in our state.”

‘Definitely getting a lot better every practice,” Iowa freshman forward Pryce Sandfort said. “We got some practices in the summer in which is good for our development and I know that all of us are very capable of impacting this team.”

Iowa opens the 2023-24 regular season on Nov. 7 hosting North Dakota.