Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery is on the cusp of making history. With the Hawkeyes’ 85-72 victory over Seton Hall on Friday, coach McCaffery is a win closer to the all-time head coaching wins mark for Iowa basketball.
Now at 265 wins since taking over the program in 2010, McCaffery is only six wins away from tying Tom Davis for the most wins in program history and seven wins away from owning the all-time wins mark all by his lonesome.
“It’s an honor, something that I take great pride in,” McCaffery said on Monday.
For McCaffery, this was the dream job as he ascended the ranks of the college basketball coaching world while at Siena. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference staple based in New York was the third stop for McCaffery as a head coach after a successful stint with UNC Greensboro.
He led Siena to unprecedented success with consecutive MAAC tournament championships before opportunity knocked in 2010.
“It was a situation where there were a number of jobs open that particular year, which is every year. We all know that. We had a pretty good run at Siena, so I was involved in some situations that I felt like it was important that I look at because I had a great job that I loved with terrific people at Siena, so I wasn’t looking necessarily to move, but there was opportunity, and that’s what we do professionally…
“It (Iowa) was clearly the job that I wanted, if it would ever come to fruition. I interviewed on that basis, like this is the one if it comes to pass, and was obviously thrilled that it did,” McCaffery said.
McCaffery explained in his availability how he grew very familiar with Iowa basketball and why it became his golden opportunity.
“As I’ve said from the first day, I was very familiar with the history of University of low’s basketball program. I had coached here twice. I recruited against those guys when Tom Davis was here, friends with Gary Close and Rich Walker and Coach Davis, so knew those guys well. We played them when I was at Notre Dame as an assistant,” McCaffery said.
While it was a golden chance for McCaffery at the time, the hire has proven to be fruitful for the Hawkeyes as well. He has led Iowa to the NCAA Tournament seven times throughout his tenure and to each of the past four tournaments. McCaffery and Iowa also won the Big Ten Tournament championship in 2022.
With his great familiarity with the program and its former coaches, McCaffery is simply honored to be included with some of the greats.
“I’m very aware of the history. You look at the names of some of the great coaches that coached here. Just to be considered with those guys. But again, more importantly at the front end to be considered to be the Hawkeye coach, knowing that Lute Olson and Tom Davis, Ralph Miller, George Raveling, you’re talking Hall-of-Famers,” McCaffery said.
Iowa returns to action on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. CT as they host North Florida.
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