The Iowa men’s basketball team enters the 2021-22 season having lost the reigning consensus national player of the year, a second-team All-Big Ten performer, its most efficient 3-point shooter, and one of its leading scorers and rebounders off the bench.

This isn’t the Hawkeye team that began last season ranked No. 5 in the country and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Clearly.

Much of the core of last year’s team has moved on.

Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp are both in the NBA after being selected in the second round of this year’s draft. CJ Fredrick is now in Lexington as a member of Kentucky’s program, and Jack Nunge is set to contribute for Xavier.

Sixty-one percent of Iowa’s scoring from last season is gone.

“This is going to be a really new experience for all of us,” Iowa’s 12th-year head coach Fran McCaffery said at media day. “When you graduate the national player of the year, have two guys going to the NBA, and a team of really talented young players, all of whom are now going to be in a new role, I think that’s an exciting challenge for any coach.”

Friday is the first look Hawkeye fans will get at the new-look Iowa lineup. Iowa begins its 2021 season with an exhibition against Slippery Rock at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:01 p.m. and will air on BTN+. The Hawkeyes begin the regular season with a home game against Longwood on Nov. 9.

RELATED: Sandfort ready to make impact for Iowa men’s basketball

Here’s a look at what Iowa’s starting five and bench rotation could look like against Slippery Rock and, possibly, throughout the season.

Previewing the starting lineup

Fran McCaffery indicated at media day and told CBS Sports Jon Rothstein that Iowa’s starting lineup is going to start the season looking like this:

G — Joe Toussaint, junior

The starting point guard job is Toussaint’s again. The speedster from the Bronx started 19 games at point as a freshman after Bohannon underwent hip surgery. Toussaint saw action in all 31 games last season as a sophomore, but only off the bench. The 6-foot guard has been praised for his quickness. At the end of last year, McCaffery said Toussaint was playing at a better pace — not trying to push the ball up the court too quickly. Toussaint has long said shooting is where he most wants to improve. He is a career 29.2 percent 3-point shooter.

G — Jordan Bohannon, senior

The former Linn-Mar High School standout is returning for his sixth year as a Hawkeye. But this year, he will primarily be playing a different position. Bohannon, the program’s all-time leader in assists, played point guard in the first five seasons of his Hawkeye career. With the loss of Fredrick, Iowa’s starting shooting guard the last two seasons, Bohannon was persuaded to come back for another season at the “two” and play off the ball. Fran McCaffery said Bohannon, also the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and game played, will take on more of a scoring role with the loss of Garza and Wieskamp.

F — Patrick McCaffery, sophomore 

Patrick McCaffery is another player who said throughout the summer that he is ready to take on a larger role this season — particularly when it comes to scoring. The former Iowa City West prep averaged 5.2 points per game off the bench last season. Fran McCaffery has also praised the 6-foot-9 forward’s ability to play in Iowa’s press defense.

F — Keegan Murray, sophomore

Keegan Murray was the breakout player on last season’s Hawkeye team, stuffing the stat sheet on his way to becoming one of five players nationally — and the only bench player — to amass 200+ points, 35+ blocks, 25+ steals, and 15+ 3-pointers in 2021. The former Cedar Rapids Prairie standout was named a Big Ten All-Freshman selection in 2021.

F/C — Filip Rebraca, senior

Is Rebraca Iowa’s answer to replacing Garza in the post? It could be as close as the Hawkeyes come to finding one. The transfer from North Dakota reached double figures in scoring 27 times last season and is a reliable 3-point shooter and passer as a post play, based on Fran McCaffery’s assessment of him.

Players off the bench

Connor McCaffery started for Iowa last year, but will often come off the bench this season, per his father. The senior’s role last year was primarily feeding the ball to Garza and setting screens. This season, McCaffery — who is capable of playing four positions on the court — will be a versatile piece off the bench.

As far as other bench options, Ahron Ulis and Tony Perkins both saw playing time last year as freshmen, and they will make up Iowa’s second backcourt this season. Perkins and Ulis stood out as perimeter defenders during their limited time on the floor a season ago (24 games played for Perkins; 17 for Ulis). Sharpshooting senior Austin Ash could also make an appearance should the Hawkeyes desperately need a 3-pointer.

Freshman Payton Sandfort, a 49 percent 3-point shooter as a high school senior, is another option for Fran McCaffery at guard.

Keegan Murray will see minutes at forward this season, but after adding muscle to his frame, minutes in the post could also be an option, per his head coach. Other post options include sophomore Josh Ogundele — who lost 20 pounds since last season — and freshman Riley Mulvey, who reclassified into the class of 2022 and was a shot-blocking machine in high school.