Iowa Hawkeyes Linked to Potential Fran McCaffery Replacement

Should the Iowa Hawkeyes make a basketball coaching change, one intriguing name has been suggested.

Evan Massey | Feb 5, 2025

Jan 12, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries claps in the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at CU Events Center. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes may have some tough decisions to make following the 2024-25 men's college basketball season.

As fans are fully aware of, the season has not gone according to plan. It has been an incredibly frustrating season.

Following their loss to the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday evening, Iowa fell to 13-9 on the season. Also, with the loss to Purdue, any hope of making a comeback and getting into the NCAA Tournament has come to an end. It simply hasn't been a good year for the Hawkeyes.

Unfortunately, sometimes tough decisions have to be made. There has been some speculation that Iowa could consider making a coaching change away from Fran McCaffery.

Moving on from McCaffery would be a massive decision. He has been the head coach for the Hawkeyes' basketball program since the 2010-11 season.

In that time frame, he has compiled an impressive 293-199 record.

Should Iowa consider the option of moving on from McCaffery, there is an intriguing name that has been suggested as a potential replacement.

Riley Donald of Hawkeyes Wire, as shared by Yahoo! Sports, has suggested that West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries could make sense. He has a connection to the state of Iowa and has been a good coach with his current team.

"First, an Iowa native. Darian DeVries hails from Aplington, Iowa. DeVries knows Iowa. He played at Northern Iowa and was the coach at Drake from 2018-2024. He knows the recruiting landscape, and he knows how to win games," Donald wrote.

"In his career, DeVries is 163-62. He was 150-55 at Drake while leading them to the NCAA Tournament three times from 2020-2024. He is in his first season at West Virginia. He signed a five-year deal with the Mountaineers that pays him an average of $3 million per year. His buyout is not a set number, but rather that West Virginia would be owed 37.5% of the remaining contract amount is."

DeVries would be an intriguing candidate. He would bring a much different voice, which could be a good thing.

For the Hawkeyes to make a coaching change, the program would have to be convinced that it is making an upgrade. Is DeVries that kind of coach? Perhaps he could be.

Of course, this is all speculation at this point in time. There is still a good chance that McCaffery could be back on the sidelines for Iowa next season.

However, if the Hawkeyes want to shake some things up and try to get back into legitimate contention, making a change could be a needed move.

Read More Iowa Hawkeyes Coverage

Published Feb 5, 2025

EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.