Jessy Lane
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery yells at the court during a basketball game between the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 7 Illinois Fighting Illini at the TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday, March 13, 2025. The Fighting Illini defeated the Hawkeyes, 106-94.
INDIANAPOLIS – “I do.” Two words that not only unite a couple in marriage, but also re-affirm Fran McCaffery’s commitment as head coach of the Iowa men’s basketball team.
Following the Hawkeyes’ 106-94 loss to Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, McCaffery’s press conference began with a question on his future. Swirls of speculation say the head coach’s time in Iowa City is up after 15 years with the program, but McCaffery lent the rumors no credence at the podium.
Taking a long swig of water as Scott Dochterman of The Athletic asked if he expects to be Iowa’s head coach in the future, McCaffery capped his drink and glanced at the table before firmly stating his intentions.
“I do.”
Based on his contract, McCaffery has reason to be confident. The head coach was extended through the 2027-28 season. New Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz has the power to buy out the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest head coach and was in the stands at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to witness Iowa’s elimination.
If McCaffery’s second-half ejection didn’t mark his final game on the sidelines for Iowa, then the program will continue under his direction, one he believes can compete in a new world of revenue sharing and Name, Image, and Likeness payments. All Iowa has to do is provide the requisite money.
McCaffery said the men’s basketball team needed $6 million to stay competitive this season, a number he said Iowa failed to meet.
“We were nowhere near that. I think you know that,” McCaffery said. “Those numbers are going to go north of that. When the [House] settlement is completed and revenue share number is what is, we’ll know that. But I think it’s safe to say collectives aren’t going away.”
The House Settlement will become effective on July 1. It mandates that Power Four schools will have to distribute $21-22 million per year to their current athletes, according to Forbes. That number will increase over time, as it’s derived from 22 percent of the average Power Four school’s revenues. The revenues include TV contracts, tickets sales, and sponsorships, but not donations.
This season, Iowa averaged 5,045 tickets scanned per home game, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. That ticket number makes up 33.6 percent of the Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s capacity and was a 12.1 percent decline from the previous season.
The Hawkeye roster will have several new faces and lose a few familiar ones with the departures of seniors Payton Sandfort, Drew Thelwell, Even Brauns, and Riley Mulvey.
Iowa is ranked the 25th-best recruiting class in the nation this year, per 247 Sports. The Hawkeyes landed four-star transfer Isaiah Johnson-Arigu from Miami and have signed three-star recruit Badara Diakite out of Kent High School. The team also has commitments from four-star Joshua Lewis and Dezmon Briscoe.
“Can we add another player, two, or three? Who knows?” McCaffery said. “We are in a different world.”
The head coach acknowledged NIL payments will play a role in landing talent and possibly losing talent to other schools.
“We have guys who might be offered seven-figure deals, which will challenge their thought process,” he said. “If you were 21 and somebody called you up and said, ‘Come play for me for 1.5 million, you might think about it.”
McCaffery said he “fully anticipates” his eligible players to return to the Hawkeyes, but also highlighted players who stepped up in the absence of others. Whether it was Brauns and Mulvey stepping in for an injured Owen Freeman or Brock Harding excelling when Thelwell was sidelined, McCaffery took pride in those who fulfilled unexpected roles.
“It forces players into more responsibility, which we know is not easy in this league,” the head coach said.
For McCaffery, his responsibility as head coach isn’t changing. Yet for Goetz, it’s her duty to decide if he will continue in the role. Iowa hasn’t won a Big Ten regular season title since 1979. The current climate unfurls a more difficult path to the top of the conference, but McCaffery doesn’t see why the Hawkeyes can’t reach the summit.
Goetz will decide if he ever sees the view.