From Spain to the United States, Alvaro Folgueiras’ basketball dream has Iowa in the Sweet 16

By Canadian Press on March 24, 2026.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alvaro Folgueiras left Spain as a 16-year-old with a dream to play basketball in the United States.

He made the biggest shot of his life in the national spotlight to eliminate the defending champions from the NCAA Tournament.

On college basketball’s grandest stage and with his mother in attendance, Folgueiras nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining to lift Iowa over No. 1 seed Florida on Sunday, sending the Hawkeyes to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.

He ran to hug his mom while teammates celebrated by mobbing one another on the floor. Beatriz Campos hadn’t seen her son since last summer, when he played for Spain’s national team. He was a freshman at Robert Morris the last time she watched him play a college basketball game in person.

“It’s super special having my mom here. She’s everything for me,” Folgueiras said. “Where the world would be without the moms? She’s super tough. She’s been through a lot of things in life. Sometimes when I struggle through basketball, and basketball is life, I think of my mom as an example of resilience, and that really inspires me and gives me confidence. Because she’s not just a fighter, she’s a super special person. I’m so lucky to have her as a mom.”

Folgueiras lost his dad when he was 9, so having his mom witness his greatest moment in the sport was emotional.

“Coming back after two years, and seeing where I am right now and how much I worked to be where I am right now, for her it’s a great feeling because she’s sent a 16-year-old kid to America without knowing any English. … without anything but dreams and hunger,” he said. “And this one is for her and my dad. He’s watching up there.”

Losing a father at a young age can have a negative impact on any child. But Folgueiras filled the void the best she could.

“He left us with my mom and my brother in my house. It was kind of hard,” he said. “We didn’t really feel it as much because my mom always made sure that we didn’t need anything, absolutely nothing. So I cannot say that I grew up in an environment where I needed some things.

“Sometimes I can say that because I feel his absence. I was just going in the court and playing to get away (from) my house to be with something else. But I can say that I had a happy childhood. Something that we all said, and everyone has these kind of things (in) their life. We are not victims. I never let things like that make me a victim. Not to me and not to my brother, not to my mom. We are like that because my mom was showing out every single day.”

Thanks to Folgueiras’ heroics, ninth-seeded Iowa (23-12) gets an opportunity to show out against No. 4 seed Nebraska (26-8) on Thursday in Houston.

Folgueiras, who averaged 8.5 points coming off the bench for the Hawkeyes this season and 14 per game in the NCAA Tournament, wasn’t the primary option on the go-ahead basket. The play was designed for Bennett Stirtz to get downhill, but Folgueiras called his shot.

“This dude came up to me and he’s like: ‘I’m going to be ready and I’m going to make it,’” Stirtz said. “That’s what he actually did.”

Iowa first-year coach Ben McCollum called it “irrational confidence.”

“I mean, I work a lot,” Folgueiras said. “I don’t trust in confidence. It’s as simple as that. I’m the same player I make it or I miss it. With that mentality, I just don’t let mistakes affect me a lot. Sometimes I do a better job than other times, but that’s the intention.”

The Hawkeyes have never won a national title and last reached the Elite Eight in 1987.

Folgueiras gave them a shot to end the drought.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press