An interesting decision by the University of Iowa athletic department brought a piece of history to Iowa City.
After Fran McCaffery was fired in March 2025, the direction of the Iowa men's basketball program was in the air, with a full rebuild on the horizon.
AD Beth Goetz and the University hired the perfect coach to replace McCaffery, and he took the program to heights not seen in decades.
In just a few months, Ben McCollum rebuilt the roster that had only two returning players and completely retooled the coaching staff, and the results speak for themselves.
Now a piece of McCollum's magical first year is headed to Iowa City.
Iowa purchased the court from Iowa's Elite 8 matchup against Illinois
McCollum's first-year results speak for themselves, and even though they finished ninth in the Big Ten Conference with a 10-10 record, their NCAA Tournament run was something to behold.
After Iowa's abrupt exit in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, no one could have predicted the crazy run they would go on in the NCAA Tournament.
After knocking off Clemson in the first round, Ben McCollum's boys did the improbable by knocking off the one-seed Florida Gators in the Round of 32, followed by upsetting Nebraska in the Sweet 16.
After knocking off Nebraska, Iowa made its first trip to the Elite Eight since 1987, and even though it ultimately lost, a piece of that historical game will now be a part of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The University of Iowa Athletics Department has purchased the official court used in the NCAA Houston Regional Elite Eight.
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) May 15, 2026
The new playing surface comes as the current Carver-Hawkeye Arena court -- last replaced in 2016 -- had reached a typical point in its lifecycle for…
The University of Iowa Athletics Department has purchased the official court that featured Iowa vs. Illinois in an Elite Eight matchup in Houston.
The floor will replace the current floor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which was last replaced in 2016.
According to 247Sports' Hawkeye insider David Eickholt, in an announcement from the athletic department, the purchase "ensures a high-performance surface for student-athletes, while introducing a visual update inside the arena."
The parquet layout will also be replaced with a more modern, single-surface design.
The move was a classy move by the athletic department to pay homage to what McCollum accomplished during his first season with the men's basketball program, and will serve as a reminder of what he, and the rest of the program is capable of.
Add us as a preferred source on Google