HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Though the stage keeps getting bigger, coach Ben McCollum continues to prove he鈥檚 a winner.
McCollum and Iowa鈥檚 underdog run , but his success in his first season with the Hawkeyes proved he can win at any level.
McCollum won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State before spending one season at Drake. He led the Bulldogs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before moving on to Iowa.
Last season, the Hawkeyes went 17-16 overall and 7-13 in Big Ten play, and Fran McCaffery was fired after 15 seasons. Iowa finished 2025-26 at 24-13.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got to be the biggest impact a first-year head coach has ever had in Iowa history,鈥� the Hawkeyes’ Cooper Koch said. 鈥淲hat he鈥檚 done is pretty special, and there鈥檚 going to be many years of this to come.鈥�
McCollum reflected on the ride he鈥檚 been on since leaving Northwest Missouri State after 15 years.
鈥淵ou have to make yourself uncomfortable,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 been uncomfortable for a couple years. But we鈥檙e getting there. We鈥檙e continuing to build and I certainly appreciate my family, my wife and kids and all that they have sacrificed for us to reach this goal, the goal of getting Iowa basketball to where it belongs. I think we鈥檝e got a good foundation for that and we鈥檒l continue to build it.鈥�
No. 9 seed Iowa opened the tournament with a win over eighth-seeded Clemson before knocking off The Hawkeyes beat Big Ten rival and on Thursday night. Their three wins in this tournament matches the number of March Madness victories they’d had in the last 20 years.
Next season, Iowa won’t have guard Bennett Stirtz, who finished with 24 points on Saturday. Stirtz played for McCollum for two seasons at Northwest Missouri State, then followed him to Drake and finally Iowa.
Stirtz didn’t get a single Division I offer out of high school but became a March Madness star.
鈥淚 just gave it my all in this Hawkeye uniform,鈥� Stirtz said. 鈥淏ut I just hope that they have continued success and that鈥檚 all I want for them. They will do just that. It鈥檚 hard to put everything into words right now, but I gave it my all and we all gave it our all and it was a fun run.鈥�
McCollum credited Stirtz, Tavion Banks and the other players who followed him from Drake for Iowa’s success.
鈥淏ennett, Tavion, those guys started this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool. I think they will look back at it in 10 years and hopefully we鈥檒l be going to Final Fours and winning championships and they will sit there and say, 鈥楳an, I did that.鈥欌��
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