Fran McCaffery is a stalwart in the Big Ten, having led Iowa men's basketball since 2010. As the Hawkeyes limp toward the season's end, they will almost certainly miss the NCAA tournament and are at risk of even missing the Big Ten tournament, which will feature 15 of the league's 18 teams.
Iowa is tied with USC at 6–12 in league play, and two games in the loss column ahead of both Penn State and Washington. The Hawkeyes are set for a Thursday game against one of the league's best teams, Michigan State, before a regular season finale at Nebraska on Sunday. They currently have a tiebreaker over the two teams behind them in the standings, but lost to USC, giving the Trojans a head-to-head edge in the event of a tie for the final seed.
As Iowa's struggled have continued to mount, with the team losing 10 of its last 13 games, rumors have emerged that this will be McCaffery's final year leading the program. The 65-year-old-coach spoke to the media on Tuesday, and firmly denied that he plans to go anywhere.
“I’m fully committed to the program, to the players," he said, per HawkCentral. "I have no intention of moving on. I just came to work today, tried to figure out how we can beat Michigan State.”
McCaffery is under contract with Iowa through 2027–28, and his buyout would be worth around $4.2 million, HawkCentral reports.
The veteran coach is 295–205 in his 15-year run with Iowa. The Hawkeyes won their first conference tournament as recently as 2022, but the program is on pace to miss the NCAA tournament for a second straight season. The Hawkeyes have never gotten past the round of 32 in seven tournament appearances under McCaffery.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Longtime Iowa Coach Addresses Rumors About Future With Big Ten Tournament in Question.
