Iowa Hawkeyes Given A-Grade For Hiring Of Ben McCollum

Ben McCollum has the potential to transform the Iowa Hawkeyes and quickly turn them into a March Madness contender.

Iowa head men's basketball coach Ben McCollum high-fives Jan Jensen, the head women's basketball coach, after his introductory press conference Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The hiring of Ben McCollum was a big deal for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball program. It was a win-win for both sides because for McCollum, it ended up being a homecoming to Iowa City. From Iowa's side of things, though, the Hawkeyes needed to take a big swing and get a big hit after the Fran McCaffery era ended in disappointment.

McCollum was a huge name on the coaching market because of what he was able to accomplish in one season at Drake. The fact that Iowa was able to land him was huge for the Hawkeyes. In fact, in a recent article grading the college basketball hires from this cycle, Carter Bahns of 247Sports gave Iowa an A for the hire. He also thinks McCollum was the third-best hire of the cycle, behind only NC State hiring Will Wade and Minnesota hiring Niko Medved.

"Ben McCollum might be the most exciting coach on the 2025 market. The seemingly endless upside made him a big name in searches at the power conference level. For Iowa to land his services and keep him from landing at one of the blue-bloods was a huge victory for a program that must replace a longtime coaching leader in Fran McCaffery," Bahns wrote. "McCollum flat out obliterated Division II competition with his four national championships in the last eight years, and he wasted no time at the next level with a 31-win season and second-round tournament appearance at Drake. The regional fit at Iowa is perfect, the continuity with his incoming transfers is enticing and the track record as a winner makes McCollum a big-time hire."

Not only was McCollum a big-time hire, but he's already making some big-time moves in Iowa City.

McCollum hasn't coached even one minute for the Hawkeyes, yet, but he's already made ripples.

He's hired one heck of an assistant coaching staff, including former Texas Tech assistant Luke Barnwell, and he's brought several players over to Iowa City via the transfer portal. He was able to bring key players over from Drake — where he won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season, tournament, and then upset Missouri in the NCAA Tournament — and he also landed a huge transfer portal addition in sharp-shooter Brendan Hausen from Kansas State.

This is not even to mention McCollum's abilities as a head coach, which should transfer over to the Big Ten level.

The Hawkeyes are set up for success because of this hire. McCollum now just needs to put it all together. If his track record is any indication, though, he will do so, and do so quickly.

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