A key cog in Iowa basketball's Elite Eight run as a No. 9 seed this past season is transferring to Louisville for Year 3 of the Pat Kelsey era.Alvaro Folgueiras, a 6-foot-10 junior forward, committed to the Cardinals on Tuesday, according to a report from The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman on X, formerly Twitter. At the time of his pledge, the Málaga, Spain, native was considered the 64th-best player to enter the NCAA transfer portal this offseason by 247Sports. Folgueiras appeared in all 37 games (one start) for an average of 20 minutes during his lone season with the Hawkeyes.
He finished third on the team in scoring with 8.4 points on 50% shooting (33% from 3-point range) while also chipping in 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists (against 1.2 turnovers). Folgueiras shined on the NCAA Tournament stage. He went for 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting during a victory over Nebraska that sent Iowa to its first Elite Eight since 1987.
Before that, he sank the decisive basket in the Hawkeyes' second-round upset of No. 1-seeded Florida: a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation that gave him 14 points on the evening.Those were two of his 16 games breaking double digits. Iowa had a 15-1 record in those games. Per BartTorvik.com, Folgueiras was one of two Division I players who, across 50% or more of their team's available minutes during the 2025-26 season, posted an offensive rating of 120 or better, a defensive box plus-minus of +3 or better, a defensive rebounding rate of 18% or better and an assist rate of 20% or better.
The other player? Duke freshman phenom Cameron Boozer, the reigning Naismith Trophy winner. According to his bio on Iowa Athletics' official website, Folgueiras' nickname is "El Pulpo Fol," which translates to "the octopus." Prior to joining the Hawkeyes, he spent two seasons at Robert Morris — earning Horizon League Player of the Year honors as a sophomore in 2024-25 after averaging 14.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals.Alvaro Folgueiras highlights: Watch Louisville basketball 2026 transfer portal commitThis story will be updated.Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Alvaro Folgueiras commits to Louisville basketball via transfer portal