North Dakota basketball transfer Filip Rebraca commits to Iowa

Iowa men's basketball needed to find a quality big man in the transfer portal to help fill the void left by Luka Garza and Jack Nunge's departures. And it landed one Thursday.

North Dakota transfer Filip Rebraca announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes via Twitter on Thursday. Iowa had been recruiting the 6-foot-9 stretch forward for several weeks and treated him as a priority target.

Other schools that have been involved with Rebraca include Minnesota, South Carolina, San Diego State, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Utah and Iona.

Rebraca told the Register he ultimately picked Iowa over Minnesota.

“There were a lot of schools that I could have seen myself at, but the top two were Iowa and Minnesota,” Rebraca said. “The reason I chose Iowa is because of the combination of culture, coaches and the team. They do things the right way and I want to be a part of that. Not saying Minnesota doesn’t, but I think (Iowa) is a better overall fit.”

Rebraca, the son of Zeljko Rebraca, a former Serbian professional basketball player who played six years in the NBA, started 74 of 87 games during his three seasons at North Dakota, averaging 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1% and 33.3% from 3-point range. This past season, he logged 16.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while knocking down 36.6% of his long-range shots.

Rebraca will have two years of eligibility — one graduate season and the extra season from COVID-19 — at Iowa.

The Hawkeyes also hope to get some help down low with three-star New York center Riley Mulvey, originally a 2022 Iowa recruit who reclassified to 2021 and signed with the Hawkeyes this week.

Matthew Bain covers recruiting and pretty much anything else under the sports sun for the Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Network.  Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.