Iowa saw several prominent athletes put on the black and gold this year across all sports — from football and basketball to golf and soccer. But a select few of those athletes represented something much bigger than the school and the sport in their senior seasons.
Men’s basketball’s Payton Sandfort, women’s basketball’s Lucy Olsen, and men’s wrestling’s Stephen Buchanan are among those fan favorites. Each athlete heavily contributed to their respective team’s success and will now seek individual success in the next chapter of their lives with graduation looming.
Payton Sandfort
Of the three, Sandfort was the only one who was a Hawkeye for multiple years. The Waukee, Iowa, native was a basketball star in the Des Moines area, leading Waukee High School to the 2021 4A State Championship in his senior season.
Several Division I offers were on the table — Iowa, Stanford, Utah, Minnesota, Drake, Air Force, Loyola-Chicago, and more. But there was something about Iowa that reeled him in.
“Ultimately, when it came down to it, this felt like home to me because of the style, the culture, and the people within the program and the people who support the program,” Sandfort said of his commitment to Iowa in December 2020. “The night Fran McCaffrey asked me to play at Iowa was incredible. I was in Kansas City for a live period event where coaches could come. The second day, I walked into the gym and heard my dad say, ‘Fran’s here, so forget everything and play your best.’ And I played really well.”
Little did he know how beloved he’d become among the Hawkeye fanbase. Going from a limited bench player, to a key reserve, to the star player, he stayed loyal to the program through all four seasons, so much so that he forwent the 2024 NBA Draft for one more year with Iowa.
“I know the team we have coming back. I didn’t want to abandon these guys with what we could build this year,” Sandfort said in October 2024. “We’ve got a ton of good pieces, and I felt really good about that — ultimately just, like I said, went with a gut [feeling].”
He got to live out his dream of playing high-level collegiate basketball and did so alongside his younger brother, Pryce, who was a Hawkeye through Payton’s last two seasons. He leaves the program as the 2023 Sixth Man of the Year, a 2024 Third-Team All-Big Ten honoree, and the 2025 Chris Street Award winner.
Sandfort will graduate with a finance degree; however, a professional career hangs in the balance.
Lucy Olsen
On the flip side, Olsen’s future has already been decided for her — with the 23rd overall pick by the Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA Draft. She became the fifth Iowa women’s basketball player to be drafted since 2019, joining Megan Gustafson, Monika Czinano, Kate Martin, and Caitlin Clark.
Olsen’s collegiate career began at Villanova — about 25 minutes away from her hometown of Collegevilla, Pennsylvania. By her third season, she became one of the best guards in the country, finishing third in scoring behind Caitlin Clark and Juju Watkins with 23.3 points per game two seasons ago.
She entered the transfer portal after the season and quickly found a new home with Iowa just five days later for her final go.
“They were just the nicest ever,” Olsen said following her commitment to Iowa in April 2024. “And then when we got on campus for a visit, I was like, ‘Wow, this feels like family already.’ There was something about the culture they’ve built [that] felt so like home. That’s what sold me.”
It wasn’t just her elite play but her infectious energy that captivated the Hawkeye fanbase. Through the highs and lows, her big smile never faded. The team fully embraced her, and the energy was reciprocated.
Iowa was a team that was expected to miss the NCAA tournament. Thanks to Olsen’s contributions, the Hawkeyes earned the 11-seed for the Big Dance. Second round exit and all, the season is very well seen as a success.
“Super proud of the team, and everyone became my family. Got the best coach here,” Olsen said following the NCAA tournament loss to Oklahoma in March. “I’m just super grateful for it. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Stephen Buchanan
Buchanan’s lone year with Iowa was also one for the books. After two years at Wyoming and two years at Oklahoma, he committed to Hawkeye men’s wrestling with his eyes set on a national championship.
Little did he know he’d find a family in the process.
“God has a plan, and he put me in Iowa for a reason. I never really loved the sport,” Buchanan said after his national championship victory in March 2025. “I did it because I was good at it. In Iowa, I began to start loving the sport, and that changes everything about it.”
He dominated all season long, posing as Iowa’s best chance to bring home a title. Through 27 matches, Buchanan suffered just one loss, and that was to Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas in the Big Ten 197-pound championship match — certainly a stinger ahead of the biggest stage.
But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. And when the NCAA championships rolled around, Buchanan was at his strongest.
Not only did he secure a long-awaited title but he also earned his fourth All-American bid and was Iowa’s lone 2025 national champion. More importantly, he found the love for a sport he was extremely talented at.
Buchanan has the option of heading down the criminal justice route, but his love for wrestling gives him another option for the future as he’s signed to the Hawkeye Wrestling Club with the Olympics in mind.
“I didn’t really like wrestling until I got to Iowa, and now I started to get a passion for it,” he said. “I’m gonna leave it up to God. He has a plan for me. But all in all, I’m going to continue wrestling and continue this athletic career in mind until He gives me something else.”