Fran McCaffery discusses Iowa basketball’s loss to Illinois
Fran McCaffery, Josh Dix, Payton Sandfort discuss Iowa basketball’s loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament.
IOWA CITY — For the first time in a decade and a half, the University of Iowa is set to conduct a search for a new men’s basketball coach.
In 15 seasons as Iowa’s head coach, Fran McCaffery tallied an overall record of 297–207.
But with the McCaffery era at Iowa over, the focus quickly turns to who will be leading the program in the future.
Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz faces an important stretch as she navigates a coaching search to try to set up the program for future success.
Here is an extensive list of candidates who could make sense for the position, organized by tier.
Head coaching records are current as of the time of publication
Obvious candidates
Darian DeVries (West Virginia)
The West Virginia head coach has ties to Iowa — both the state and the university. He is an Iowa native and played at the University of Northern Iowa. DeVries’ brother, Jared, was a consensus All-American for the Hawkeye football program.
Darian DeVries spent six seasons as Drake’s head coach. He led the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament three times, including in each of the last two seasons at the helm. In 2024, DeVries left for the opening at West Virginia, where he led the Mountaineers to a 19-13 record this season.
DeVries makes sense on a variety of levels. The timing, however, is unfortunate. The logistics would’ve been much easier had DeVries still been at Drake. Instead, Iowa would now need to poach him from another power conference program should it go down that path. That would require a pricey buyout.
Ben McCollum (Drake)
As DeVries’s successor at Drake, McCollum has made a splash in his first season at the helm, helping guide the Bulldogs to a 30-3 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Though this is his first season coaching at the Division I level, McCollum is a bona fide winner. He held a 395–91 record at Division II Northwest Missouri State before taking the job at Drake.
There is a lot to like about McCollum. He was born in Iowa City and raised in Storm Lake. He is still young, turning 44 in April. There is a bit more of a risk factor given he isn’t as established at the Division I level, but he has won his entire coaching career.
That could also make him an appealing candidate for other openings around college basketball, meaning that Iowa could face some serious competition to land him.
On Thursday, Jeff Goodman reported that McCollum has emerged as one of the top candidates for the Indiana head coaching job.
Candidates who would make sense
Chris Collins (Northwestern)
Collins has won at a place where it is not easy to do so, which would translate well for a job like Iowa. He has taken the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament three times, including back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024.
Collins is the epitome of doing more with less. But the bigger question would be if he would be willing to leave what he has built at Northwestern for Iowa. At its best, the Iowa job would be better than Northwestern. But, comparing the current state of each program, Iowa is not head and shoulders above.
Collins is worth a look, but it’s uncertain whether interest would be reciprocated.
Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State)
Iowa is familiar with Calhoun, as the Hawkeyes took on Utah State in November.
After seven seasons at Youngtown State, Calhoun has enjoyed a widely successful first campaign at Utah State, where the Aggies have an overall record of 28-6.
There are parallels between Calhoun and McCollum. Both have won at the Division I and II levels, enjoyed success this season at new programs, are similar in age, and are viewed as up-and-comers in the industry. Calhoun has more experience at the Division I level but not the ties to Iowa that McCollum does.
Chris Mack (College of Charleston)
The Chris Mack experiment at Louisville did not work. But he has revitalized his career after moving to a mid-major program.
In his first season at the College of Charleston, Mack has led the Cougars to a 24-9 record.
Though Mack didn’t work out at Louisville, he has had extensive success coaching at the power conference level. In nine seasons at Xavier, he took the Musketeers to the Big Dance eight times. It’s fair to wonder if he could do it again at Iowa, but he possesses the type of resume that not a lot of other potential suitors can boast.
Chris Jans (Mississippi State)
Jans has won at least 20 games in eight of his nine seasons as a Division I head coach — with the COVID-19-riddled campaign being the only time he missed that mark. He is now heading to his third NCAA Tournament in three seasons at Mississippi State.
Jans is well-connected to the state of Iowa. He played at Wapsie Valley High School in Fairbank and at Loras College in Dubuque. He coached at the junior college level before joining the Division I ranks — with one of those stops being Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. He won at least 25 games in each of his two seasons leading the Kirkwood program.
Ryan Odom (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Odom was the head coach of the UMBC team that made history by becoming the first 16-seed to upset a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Retrievers did so by beating Virginia in 2018.
Odom has since taken jobs at Utah State and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), the latter being where he currently coaches. Odom’s teams have won at least 24 games in each of the last three seasons (including the current) — one at Utah State and both years at VCU.
Bucky McMillan (Samford)
McMillan has gone on an impressive run at Samford. His teams have won at least 21 games in four of his five seasons at the helm. Last season was his first berth in the NCAA Tournament and the Bulldogs took Kansas down to the wire before falling short.
McMillan, 41, would probably be seen as a high-risk, high-reward option. He is young and has already proven he can win. But the downside is that he doesn’t have much college head coaching experience and none at a power conference program.
Candidates who are worth a call
Steve Forbes (Wake Forest)
Forbes, who is from Lone Tree, Iowa, served stints as an assistant and head coach at Southwestern Community College in Creston.
Forbes had a tremendous head coaching run at East Tennessee State, where he won no fewer than 24 games in each of his five seasons before being hired at Wake Forest.
Forbes’ tenure at Wake Forest hasn’t been a resounding success as the Demon Deacons didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in the first four seasons under his tutelage and are on the bubble again this year.
That lack of postseason success at Wake Forest, coupled with his age (he turns 60 in March), casts some doubt on how appealing his potential candidacy would be.
Brad Brownell (Clemson)
Brownell is the winningest coach in Clemson basketball history and has helped orchestrate a renaissance for the program recently. He took the Tigers to the Elite 8 in 2024.
But it took a while to build that as Brownell is in his 15th season at the helm, which speaks to his overall head coaching experience. He has spent nearly a quarter century as a head college basketball coach — between stints at UNC Wilmington, Wright State and Clemson.
Similar to Chris Collins, it’s uncertain whether Iowa would be attractive enough to pull Brownell from a place he has poured so much into.
Richard Pitino (New Mexico)
The son of coaching legend Rick, Richard Pitino’s story is similar to Mack’s in that he had some success at a power conference program before taking a step down and revitalizing his career.
Pitino has coached in the Big Ten, spending eight seasons at Minnesota before being fired. He took the Golden Gophers to the Big Dance twice. He has since taken a job at New Mexico, posting an overall record of 245-184 across four seasons.
Pitino was named this season’s Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
Pitino didn’t have the same level of success at the power conference level as Mack. But he at least has experience at the Big Ten level and is still young.
Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)
Byington has transformed Vanderbilt in just one year. Last season, the Commodores were 9-23 under the previous head coach. But in his first season at the helm, Byington has turned Vanderbilt into a 20-12 team.
Byington has head coaching experience at Georgia Southern, James Madison and Vanderbilt. He took James Madison to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Josh Schertz (Saint Louis)
Schertz is in his first season at Saint Louis after a successful stint at Indiana State. His final Sycamore team won a remarkable 32 games and was runner-up in the NIT.
Schertz thrived as a head coach at the Division II level, recording a 337-69 overall record at the helm of Lincoln Memorial University. This season is Schertz’s fourth as a head coach at the Division I level.
Saint Louis is 19-13 in Schertz’s first season leading the program.
Brian Wardle (Bradley)
Wardle, in his 10th season as Bradley’s head coach, would be a less flashy option compared to others. But he has won at least 23 games in each of his last three seasons with the Braves (including the current).
On the other hand, neither of Wardle’s two head coaching stops have been at the power conference level. Between his time at Green Bay and Bradley, Wardle has been to the NCAA Tournament just once (it would’ve been twice if the Big Dance wasn’t canceled in 2020).
Niko Medved (Colorado State)
Medved has ties to both the Big Ten and the state of Iowa.
He played at Minnesota and spent a brief stint there as an assistant coach. His connection to the state of Iowa comes in the form of one season as Drake’s head coach in 2017-18. He was DeVries’ predecessor with the Bulldogs.
Medved has spent seven seasons as Colorado State’s head coach, accumulating an overall record of 131-82 with the Rams. He took the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2024.
Long-shot candidates
Will Wade (McNeese State)
Wade can win. That is not a question. He did so at Chattanooga, VCU, LSU and now McNeese State.
The greater concern is whether Iowa would go for someone with his shady past. Wade was fired by LSU for cause after receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA that detailed misconduct.
Wade is just 42 years old. He’s won at every head coaching job he has been, including in the SEC. Wade could be a home run hire if another power conference program is willing to give him a chance. But that means not letting his past overshadow his successes.
Tom Crean
This is a far less obvious option since Crean is not currently a sitting head coach.
But he has held multiple power conference head coaching jobs — Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, though his tenure at the latter was far from stellar.
But Crean already knows what it takes in the Big Ten, having led a big brand in Indiana to three Sweet 16s. He has coached names like Dwayne Wade, Victor Oladipo and Anthony Edwards, which would bode well on the recruiting trail.
It remains to be seen whether Crean even wants to return to coaching. A marriage between Crean and Iowa would certainly generate a lot of dialogue — for better or worse.
Matt Gatens
Gatens has never been a head coach, which makes him highly unlikely to land the job.
He played for McCaffery at Iowa and served as an assistant coach. Hiring someone with such close ties to the McCaffery era might not be well-received by the fan base. But Gatens has proven to be an asset to the program — whether that be as a player or assistant coach — and at least deserves to be treated as such.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
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