Ben McCollum: The natural.
Where Ben McCollum has been, he has guided his team to the postseason, and that remains the case for his first season in Iowa City.
After taking over for Fran McCaffery last March, McCollum rebuilt the program from the ground up, and it has paid dividends in his first season.
Even though Iowa bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the third round, causing them to lose seven of 10 games, there was little doubt that they would make the NCAA Tournament field.
The squad had an excited but mesaured reaction to making the NCAAT
It was an up-and-down journey for the Hawkeyes this season, but going dancing for the first time since the 2022-2023 season got the squad excited.
Ben McCollum’s reaction to Iowa being a 9 seed against Clemson in Tampa on Friday. (Florida is the 1 seed.) pic.twitter.com/VaqpNU4sk7
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) March 15, 2026
The Des Moines Register's Chad Leistikow was on hand to witness the squad's reaction to the committee's decision and captured a happy yet tempered response to earning a nine-seed.
McCollum was especially stoic, suggesting he is already dialed into the task at hand.
He has said for weeks now that the expectation is not just to be good, but to be great, and while making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons is nice, the job isn't done.
McCollum led the Drake Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament win since 1971 last season and knows how hard it is to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
Now with a new squad and the highest seed he has had, the stakes are even higher, and the Hawkeyes look to capture their first NCAA Tournament victory since the 2021-2022 season.