As Ben McCollum continues to reform the Iowa basketball program with multiple transfer portal additions and a new coaching staff ahead of his first season with the Hawkeyes, contract details about his employment with Iowa have been revealed.
According to a term sheet acquired by the Des Moines Register from an open-records request, McCollum inked a six-year deal, including a total compensation of $3,350,000 in the first year.
The rest of McCollum’s scheduled compensation is as follows:
- May 1, 2026-April 30, 2027: $3.6 million
- May 1, 2027-April 30, 2028: $3.8 million
- May 1, 2028-April 30, 2029: $3.9 million
- May 1, 2029-April 30, 2030: $4 million
- May 1, 2030-April 30, 2031: $4.1 million
While the Hawkeyes have not yet released McCollum‘s finalized contract, the term sheet information shown above was included in an offer letter sent by Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz to McCollum on March 24.
For reference, former Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery made $3.4 million last season at Iowa and had been scheduled to make $3.5 million in 2025-26 before his dismissal in March.
The offer letter also details the following additional compensation McCollum could receive if certain incentives are met:
Academic Progress Rate (APR) Bonus:
- $25,000 if the APR is greater than or equal to 940
- $50,000 if the APR is greater than or equal to 960
- $75,000 if the APR is greater than or equal to 980
Team Regular-season Performance:
- $75,000 Big Ten Regular Season Champions or Co-Champions
- $50,000 Big Ten Tournament Championship Win
NCAA Tournament Success:
- $50,000 for NCAA Tournament Invitation or First Four Win
- $75,000 for NCAA Tournament Advance to Round of 32
- $100,000 for NCAA Tournament Advance to Sweet 16
- $150,000 for NCAA Tournament Advance to Elite 8
- $200,000 for NCAA Tournament Advance to Final Four
- $300,000 for NCAA Tournament Advance to National Championship
- $400,000 for NCAA Tournament Championship win
Coach of the Year:
- $25,000 for Big Ten Coach of the Year
- $50,000 for National Coach of the Year (can be either the Naismith College Coach of the Year Award, NABC, the Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, or the USA Today College Basketball Coach of the Year, with a maximum of $50,000 for this national category in any one season)
Coach Voluntary Terminaton:
If McCollum were to voluntarily resign or accept another employment during the otherwise unexpired contract term, he would be required to pay the following total amount of liquidated damages to Iowa:
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2026: $5 million owed
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2027: $4 million owed
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2028: $3 million owed
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2029: $2 million owed
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2030: $1 million owed
- Resignation or acceptance of other employment on or before April 1, 2031: $0 owed
Termination Without Cause
If Iowa terminates McCollum’s employment without cause, it will pay him liquidated damages in equal monthly installments for the remainder of the contract term, according to the following schedule:
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2026: 80% of the remaining scheduled compensation
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2027: 80% of the remaining scheduled compensation
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2028: 80% of the remaining scheduled compensation
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2029: 60% of the remaining scheduled compensation
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2030: 60% of the remaining scheduled compensation
- Termination notice provided on or before April 30, 2031: 60% of the remaining scheduled compensation
If Iowa were to fire McCollum in this scenario, he would be required to find another job, and Iowa’s buyout would be offset by his compensation at the new job.
Assistant coaches and support staff salaries:
- A minimum annual salary pool of $2,095,000 for four assistant coaches and other men’s basketball-specific staff members. The salary pool is subject to potential annual increases based upon conference/national trends and athletics department resources.
It is worth noting that Iowa agreed to pay the buyout McCollum owed for leaving Drake to take the job with the Hawkeyes. The term sheet acquired by the Register did not specify the buyout amount but stated that Iowa also agreed to pay any taxes that McCollum may owe on the buyout amount.
However, if McCollum were to leave the program on or before April 30, 2026, he would be required to reimburse Iowa for the buyout covered from leaving Drake. That would be an additional cost on top of the buyout that he would have to pay Iowa.
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