Ben McCollum didn’t spend much time entertaining the North Carolina chatter.
At Big Ten Media Days, where he was previewing the upcoming 2026-27 college basketball season, the Iowa coach was asked about the Tar Heels’ interest in him this offseason after they moved on from Hubert Davis, who held the job from 2022 to 2026. McCollum’s response kept coming back to the same place: Iowa.
“I don't have a lot to say about that one. Like we've always said, we're pretty excited about the University of Iowa and what we can do. And this really fits who I am as a coach because I can recruit the kids who I want to recruit,” McCollum said about choosing Iowa over UNC.
The question carried weight because North Carolina sits in the blue-blood class of college basketball, with the history of Dean Smith, Roy Williams, and six national championships behind it. But McCollum made it clear that walking away from Iowa after just one season was never really in the cards.
That first year in Iowa City changed the program, but it also fit McCollum in a way that mattered. He was born in Iowa City, so this is home in the most literal sense. And beyond that, he believes he can build something lasting at Iowa, the same way he did at Northwest Missouri State.
That confidence comes from a track record that includes recruiting, portal work, and player development. Bennett Stirtz is part of that proof.
For McCollum, Iowa isn’t a stopover. It’s the place where he believes the job matches the coach.
In Other News...
Iowa Heads West Carrying A Drought Hawkeye Fans Know Too Well
Iowa heads to Seattle this week carrying a familiar kind of burden for Hawkeye fans, one tied less to the opponent than to geography. The program has won in the Pacific time zone only sparingly in the regular season, and this trip marks its first to Seattle since 1963, a long-awaited return to a place where the Hawkeyes have had little recent success. The series history with Washington adds another layer, with Iowa holding a narrow 4-3 edge even though the Huskies own two Rose Bowl wins in the matchup.
Both teams arrive with something to prove after recent losses, so the setting carries real weight beyond the travel schedule. For Iowa, the bigger subplot is the drought itself, a 39-year stretch without a regular-season win in the Pacific time zone that has lingered over too many West Coast trips to ignore. A victory here would do more than settle a nonconference game, it would finally give the Hawkeyes a result in a region that has too often sent them home empty-handed. [Read more 🡒]
Iowas Backfield Problem Is Starting To Test The Entire Offense
Iowas running game has not found much traction against Power Four opponents this season, and the effects have gone beyond the backfield. The offense has been stuck chasing rhythm and continuity, with coach Kirk Ferentz pointing to injuries and a revolving cast of running backs as part of the reason the ground game has not settled in.
Even with an experienced offensive line and a healthy stable of backs, the Hawkeyes still are waiting for the kind of consistency that makes the whole unit click. Ferentz expects that picture to improve as the season goes on, but for now the backfield remains one of the offenses biggest tests and a reminder of how quickly one area can spill into the rest of the attack. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa's Next Big Ten Step Suddenly Feels Much Bigger Than Last Year
At Big Ten Basketball Media Days, Iowas players and coach spent plenty of time talking about the small things that can turn into big ones over the course of a season. The message was simple enough: play a complete 40 minutes, settle into the teams identity, and make sure the new pieces fit without taking away from what last years group established on its way to an Elite Eight run.
One of the biggest variables is a transfer who brings a different kind of presence to the roster in Andrew McKeever, whose size alone changes how opponents have to prepare. And after all the offseason noise around coaching turnover across the sport, Iowa also enters this year with McCollum firmly in place, committed long term and focused on building on what the Hawkeyes already showed they can be. The next Big Ten step may look familiar on paper, but it suddenly feels a lot more layered. [Read more 🡒]