The Iowa men’s and women’s basketball teams will play at doubleheader at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on December 16th. The Hawkeye men will play Florida A@M while the women will take on Cleveland State. Maury Hanks is president of Global Sports Management and says he reached out to Iowa officials several months ago about the idea of a doubleheader.

Hanks says Iowa still controls the television coverage and tip times will be announced at a later date

The Iowa men are coming off a season in which they made it to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season while national player of the year Caitlin Clark returns for a women’s squad that has several key players back from a team that made it to the national championship game. The Iowa women’s basketball team is coming off a historic season in which it won a school-record 31 games en route to a NCAA national runner-up finish. This will mark the first time in program history the Hawkeye women have ever played in Wells Fargo Arena.

Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark, who was the consensus National Player of the Year averaged 27.8 points per game, 8.6 assists per game and 7.1 boards per game, will return to her hometown. Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin also are set to return to the Hawkeyes along with 2023 Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, Hannah Stuelke. Marshall, Martin, and Stuelke were pivotal pieces in its second Final Four run in program history.

The Hawkeye men, who are one of 10 teams in the country to compete in the last four NCAA Tournaments, will be making their ninth appearance at Wells Fargo Arena. They return four players with starting experience, including seniors Patrick McCaffery and Tony Perkins. Perkins was an honorable mention all-conference honoree after averaging 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists. McCaffery was tabbed the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree after averaging 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and one assist.

Junior Payton Sandfort and freshman Pryce Sandfort played their prep careers at nearby Waukee HS and Waukee Northwest HS, respectively. Payton, who was the 2023 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, helped guide his team to the 2021 Class 4A state championship. Pryce, who was named 2023 Mr. Basketball of Iowa, led his team to a Class 4A runner-up finish this past March.