Two Iowa women’s basketball players entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 24. Guard Tomi Taiwo and forward Logan Cook are leaving the team they’ve played for since 2018-19.

Both players are traditional seniors. Because the NCAA gave all its 2020-21 athletes an additional year of eligibility, however, Cook and Taiwo can still play at least one more season of college basketball.

Neither Cook nor Taiwo redshirted at any point during their Hawkeye careers.

In February, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said Cook was going to transfer at the end of the 2021-22 season. At the time, Bluder did not know Taiwo’s intentions.

Regardless of what Taiwo and Cook decided to do, Bluder said they weren’t going to play for Iowa in 2022-23.

“[Cook and Taiwo’s] status is that they are eligible for an additional year due to COVID,” Bluder said at a Feb. 23 press conference. “But they aren’t going to be using that year here. Logan has expressed an interest in going to grad school somewhere and using her year of eligibility. Tomi has not yet, so we’ll see at the end of the year what Tomi’s plans are.”

Bluder added that she could not offer Taiwo or Cook scholarships in 2022-23. Center Monika Czinano opting to use the extra year of eligibility the NCAA gave her at the University of Iowa made it especially difficult for Bluder to retain Cook and Taiwo.

“It’s kind of a weird situation with the COVID [year], and we kind of had to sit down and have those conversations with the players because I couldn’t bring them all back,” Bluder said. “I don’t have enough scholarships with three [freshmen] coming in and whatever is going to happen in the transfer portal.”

Next year, Iowa could have as many as 14 scholarship athletes on its roster. Pre-pandemic rules limited NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball teams to 15 scholarship athletes.

Taiwo and Cook finish their Hawkeye careers having averaged 3.1 points and 1.4 points per game, respectively.

Taiwo played nearly 12 minutes per game in four years in Iowa City. Cook was on the floor for just over six minutes per contest as a Hawkeye.

Taiwo and Cook’s transfer destinations remain unknown.

Excluding Taiwo and Cook, Iowa will likely be returning the entirety of its 2021-22 roster for the 2022-23 season. The Hawkeyes’ starters — forward McKenna Warnock, Czinano, and guards Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabbie Marshall — are all expected to return and play for the UI in 2022-23.

High school prospects Taylor McCabe, Jada Gyamfi, and Hannah Stuelke are also anticipated to join the fray at Iowa next season.

Gyamfi, McCabe, and Stuelke are all four-star recruits. Gyamfi and Stuelke are both from Iowa, while McCabe hails from Nebraska. McCabe and Stuelke are both perimeter players, per ESPN. Gyamfi is labeled as a forward in her ESPN recruiting profile.

The Hawkeyes have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons. Iowa hasn’t missed “The Big Dance” since 2016-17.