IOWA CITY — After taking the Iowa basketball program to its first Elite Eight since 1987, head coach Ben McCollum has signed a contract extension, it was announced May 11.
McCollum’s original contract with the University of Iowa, which he signed in 2025, ran through April 30, 2031. But his new deal now goes through 2032.
“This extension reflects not only our recent success, but the strong alignment we have with Coach McCollum’s vision for Iowa basketball,” Iowa AD Beth Goetz said in a release. “The culture he and his staff have developed, the way they represent our institution, and the connection created with the Hawkeye community have been incredibly meaningful.
“I have tremendous confidence in the direction we are headed under Ben’s leadership. We are excited to continue that momentum and pursue even greater success together.”
In McCollum’s first season at the helm, Iowa made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023 before knocking off 8-seed Clemson, 1-seed Florida and 4-seed Nebraska en route to the Elite Eight. The Hawkeyes’ thrilling NCAA Tournament run came up one step short of the Final Four when they lost to Illinois.
Iowa finished with 24 wins, the program’s most since the 2021-22 season.
“I am incredibly thankful to President Wilson and Beth Goetz for their continued belief in what we are building,” McCollum said in a release. “We have a strong foundation in place, and we have great momentum moving forward. We are eager to build on our success and elevate this program at the highest level.”
Goetz previously said that the men’s basketball program saw “significant philanthropic support” during Iowa’s March Madness run.
“You intentionally sort of leverage championship opportunities for both men’s and women’s basketball,” Goetz said on April 8. “You do that for all of the sports while they’re competing because you have an opportunity to talk about them a lot. But I would tell you, it was some significant levels of support and commitments from a philanthropic standpoint, specifically for men’s basketball.”
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, the University of North Carolina wanted to conduct an in-person interview for its head-coaching vacancy with McCollum, but the Iowa coach turned down the offer. North Carolina is widely viewed as one of the top jobs in college basketball, and the fact that McCollum didn’t even go through with a formal interview speaks to his commitment to Iowa.
Goetz was asked what Iowa can do to try to keep McCollum with the Hawkeyes for as long as possible.
“Our job is to figure out how to continue to make this a place where they (coaches) feel like they can be successful and they can serve their teams,” Goetz said. “And so, that’s an ongoing conversation. I think they feel like they become about contracts in the moment. And it’s not that that’s not a part of it. But I think all of the work that you do in and around that is going to be making sure you have a pulse on what it is that they need to continue to be successful. And so, you are preparing the day you hire them, to say, ‘Hey, look, do they feel supported?’ Do they have what they need? Do their athletes? Are their athletes able to be successful both in their sport and off the court or off the track or whatever it might be? And when you have, I think, that alignment with where they are and where they’re trying to go, I think that helps those conversations when opportunities pop up.”
McCollum spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Northwest Missouri State, where he won four national championships, before making the jump to the Division I level at Drake. McCollum, who was born in Iowa City and raised in Storm Lake, took the job at Iowa in 2025 after going 31-4 in his lone season with the Bulldogs.
Last season was McCollum’s first coaching at the power-conference level and second overall at the Division I level. He has made the NCAA Tournament in each of his two seasons as a Division I head coach.
McCollum turned 45 on April 12.
Iowa is losing at least two of its three leading scorers from last season, and possibly all three, depending on what Tavion Banks’ future holds (he could be granted another year of eligibility). Trying to replace the production of Bennett Stirtz, a projected first-round pick in June’s 2026 NBA Draft, will be a prevalent storyline heading into the 2026-27 season.
But despite what Iowa lost, there is optimism for next season.
The Hawkeyes are returning at least 10 players from last season’s Elite Eight roster, including Cam Manyawu, Kael Combs, Cooper Koch, Tate Sage, Isaia Howard, Trey Thompson and Trevin Jirak. To have only two players enter the transfer portal — Alvaro Folgueiras and Banks — is an impressive showing of retention in this day and age. And Banks, who entered the portal to keep his options open, stated his desire to return to the Hawkeyes if he has the ability to do so.
Four newcomers have signed with the program.
Ethan Harris and Jaidyn Coon, both four-star high school prospects according to the 247Sports Composite, will give the Hawkeyes more foundational pieces for the future. Iowa filled its glaring transfer-portal needs with the additions of dynamic guard Ty’Reek Coleman and 7-foot-3 big man Andrew McKeever.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at TTachman@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa basketball coach Ben McCollum signs contract extension
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
