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Iowa is finalizing a deal to make Drake’s Ben McCollum its next men’s basketball coach, 247Sports reported Sunday.

While McCollum coached the Bulldogs in the state’s capital of Des Moines, his next stop (Iowa City) is where he was born. He was raised in Storm Lake, about 250 miles northwest of the Iowa campus.

McCollum, 43, will replace Fran McCaffery, who was fired by the Hawkeyes on March 14 after 15 seasons with the program.

The university’s all-time leader in wins (297), McCaffery saw the Hawkeyes make seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Unfortunately for McCaffery’s teams, they failed to reach the Sweet 16.

McCollum led Drake to a spot in the NCAA Tournament after guiding the Bulldogs to the Missouri Valley regular season and conference tournament titles in his first year with the program. Drake finished with a 31-4 record after dropping a 77-64 setback to Texas Tech in the second round of the tournament on Saturday.

A No. 11 seed, Drake upset No. 6 Missouri 67-57 in the first round on Thursday.

He previously spent 15 seasons with NCAA Division II power Northwest Missouri State University, helping his alma mater capture four national championships (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022),

Iowa finished with a 17-16 record this season after a 106-94 setback to Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. McCaffery was ejected in the second half of that game after being assessed two technical fouls for arguing with the officials, leading to Illinois making four free throws.

–Field Level Media