Iowa Guard Arrested in Public Dispute

Originally posted on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI | By Lane Mills | Last updated Oct 15, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Ahead of the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball tipoff in November, all eyes are on the program’s renewed sense of hope under first year head coach Ben McCollum.

With a revamped roster working to fuel heightened expectations, fans in Iowa are on-rails for a new team carrying the black and gold flag. But in non-basketball related news, Iowa hoops has been hit with untimely off-court bad luck in the form of an athlete’s arrest.

Tavion Banks, the Hawkeyes’ senior guard and former Drake Bulldog, was detained in Iowa City earlier this week on charges of disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

The 22-year-old refused a breathalyzer test after being seen in an apparent fight in which the police force intervened and made the subsequent arrest.

In his aforementioned time with the Bulldogs last season, under HC Ben McCollum, Banks averaged 10 points on 52% shooting from the field, adding five boards and an assist to his slate. At 6’7, 215, the now-senior guard is expected to bring a veteran physicality to a Hawkeyes team looking to score in spades.

At least he was, before his spot on the team was thrown into disarray pending his legal process.

While coach McCollum and the Hawkeyes are still set to benefit from the rest of the depth on this team’s roster, especially from the likes of senior and anticipated star Bennett Stirtz, potentially losing a seasoned addition in the first year of a reset is an undeniably frustrating issue.

In the wake of the situation, Iowa’s athletic department released an official statement on Banks’ arrest.

“The UI Athletics Department and men’s basketball program are aware of Tavion Banks’ citation over the weekend," the statement read. "He is subject to established university protocol regarding the UI Student-Athlete Code of Conduct, and the rules and regulations set for members of the men’s basketball program.”

Specific details of Banks' altercation and detainment are still relatively unclear, but it is believed that his scuffle was with the staff at a local brewery. Hawkeyes fans will have to employ a measure of patience before Banks' involvement and assumed reimplementation with the team is made official going forward; in the meantime, with just over two weeks remaining until the season begins, attention turns to McCollum and his remaining roster to pick up the slack.

In spite of this bout of bad news, Iowa's outlook for the 2025-26 is still very much in the green. The program is reaching for new heights for the first time in a long time, and that will continue regardless of one player's apparent troublesome tendencies.

This article first appeared on Iowa Hawkeyes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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