Iowa Hawkeyes HC Ben McCollum Unveils Road Map Back to Contention

The Iowa Hawkeyes made a significant change at the end of their season, firing Fran McCaffrey and hiring Ben McCollum as their next head coach.

McCollum and Iowa have lost some key players in the transfer portal but landed the No.1 player in the transfer portal in guard Bennett Stirtz.

Stirtz played for McCollum at Drake, averaging 19.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. He led the MVC in points and steals per game, winning the MVC Player of the Year award and MVC Tournament MVP.

Stirtz is a great addition to Iowa's backcourt, but outside of that, McCollum has a lot of work to do. McCollum shared his vision for building a winning program.

"Positively first, tough kids win. Connected groups win. Groups that serve each other win," McCollum said. "Kids that work with a level of humility win. And that hasn't changed. So with the portal you have to make sure you can identify those intangible talents very early, because the physical gifts are pretty easy to identify."

McCollum also commented on how he envisions building the roster through a competitive transfer portal.

Ben McCollum speaks during his introductory press conference — Ben McCollum, Iowa's new head men's basketball coach, speaks during 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

"But as you see throughout the portal, some of the teams that may spend the most money or on paper may have the most talent don't necessarily win because they're not a connected group. So for us what I've learned from Drake is that don't overthink, just because somebody is getting a lot of money here, that he's a better fit for what you do. And so we continue to trust our own eyes at Drake, took people that we thought could really help build and sustain a culture so that we can continue success into the future."

McCollum has emphasized the importance of building a culture that can lead to winning. He has been very successful as a coach, with a record of 426-95 between Division II and Division I play.

McCollum won four Division II titles at Northwest Missouri State University and led Drake to a 31-4 record in his first year coaching at a Division I level.

McCollum's experience and success speak for itself, and he will now need to keep recruiting to build out the Hawkeyes roster.

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