Iowa basketball recruiting target headed to rival Big Ten program

One of Iowa basketball’s top recruiting targets in the 2027 cycle is instead headed to a fellow Big Ten program.

Four-star point guard Chase Branham announced his commitment to Indiana on Saturday evening. Branham chose Indiana over Iowa and schools such as Creighton, Kansas State, Missouri, Purdue and Tennessee.

It’s a tough recruiting blow for an Iowa program that was hoping it could land Branham and then sell the Rogersville, Mo., product’s pledge to Iowa as part of its recruiting pitch to other top 2027 prospects.

Branham is ranked as a four-star commit to the Hoosiers by both 247Sports and Rivals. Per 247Sports, Branham is the nation’s 33rd player nationally, the No. 8 point guard and the No. 2 player in the state of Missouri. Rivals ranks Branham as the nation’s No. 42 player overall, as its No. 12 shooting guard and as the No. 4 player from the Show-Me State.

Iowa is still without a commit in the 2027 class, though the Hawkeyes did just add their first commitment in the 2026 cycle recently.

Four-star power forward Ethan Harris announced his commitment to Ben McCollum and the Iowa Hawkeyes last week.

The 6-foot-9, 200-pound power forward attends Camas High School in Washington. Harris is ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Washington, as the No. 16 power forward in the class and as the No. 94 player nationally per the 247Sports composite rankings.

As a junior at Camas last season, Harris averaged 18.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3 assists per game en route to being named the All-Region Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Harris also played for Select Basketball this past summer, averaging 10.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 38% from 3-point range.

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