Sunday, March 28, 2010

It's Great to be a Hawkeye: Iowa City will soon welcome Fran McCaffery to Iowa Basketball


News is that Gary Barta, Iowa's AD, has extended the Iowa basketball position to Fran McCaffery, who has been head coach the past five seasons at Siena College, a Jesuit university.

Who will be the next Hawkeye basketball coach? - The Gazette
Several media reports confirm Siena Coach Fran McCaffery has accepted the Iowa coaching job ...

Report: McCaffery to Iowa ‎- WNYT
Iowa is expected to announce the move Monday in Iowa City, Iowa. McCaffery will replace Todd Lickliter, who was fired two weeks ago after the Hawkeyes' ...

Like Dr. Tom Davis, who coached at Iowa for 13 years, McCaffery brings a strong East Coast resume to Iowa City. Like Dr. Tom, McCaffery has been a head coach previously at three other schools. McCaffery has eleven years of coaching in the Midwest, as an 11 year assistant at Notre Dame. McCaffery lead Lehigh, UNC-Greensboro and Siena all to the NCAA Tournament, including three straight trips at Siena.

He may not have the doctorate, like Dr. Tom, but he has an Ivy League education on his resume, from Penn. We would imagine that Fran McCaffery knows a little about teaching young men the game of basketball and about life. Always an important skill for an Iowa head basketball coach. Always important at the 28 Jesuit universities found the USA.

Dr. Tom and Coach Fran were head coaches at Jesuit universities. Dr. Tom at Boston College, while McCaffery has been the past five seasons at Siena. Jesuit universities have great history in college basketball, from Georgetown to Gonzaga. Creighton is the closest Jesuit university to Iowa City.

Ironically, Iowa could have hired a Jesuit coach from Creighton (Dana Altman) three years ago, but settled for Butler's Todd Lickliter. Iowa's two previous coaches, Licklter and Steve Alford, had only coached at one Division I university previous to becoming the head coach at Iowa.

Coach Fran, like Dr. Tom, has coached at three universities in the past prior to coming to Iowa City. Of course, nothing is official yet, but multiple sources from The Gazette's article have confirmed, 'Fran is the Man' for the University of Iowa's basketball position.

We are excited about the choice, after reports that Dayton's Brian Gregory were heard. It appears that Iowa's AD Gary Barta didn't want to lose on the opportunity to hire Fran McCaffery, who was mentioned for other jobs opening in 2010, as the two articles below highlight.

Coaching carousel chatter ‎ESPN (blog) - Andy Katz
Iowa was extremely interested in Gregory, so this move is odd for them if he's truly the top choice. Iowa has talked to McCaffery and he remains a finalist ...

Skinner to St. John's in a holding pattern ‎Boston Globe
McCaffery, meanwhile, may be out as a possibility at St. John's since he has emerged as the leading candidate for the opening at the University of Iowa, ...

We look forward to the official announcement on Monday that Fran McCaffery will be the University of Iowa's next head men's basketball coach. The rebuilding job will be McCaffery's who brings a strong resume to the table for the Hawkeyes men's program. Official announcement with Media is Monday.

peace

1 comment:

fishpro said...

McCaffery will do the job for you. Philly-bred coaches(those who grew up in the city and played college BB or was an assistant in the city) succeed. He will be no exception. Check the record. (Dr. Jack Ramsay, Jack Kraft, John Chaney, Dick Harter, Fran Dunphy, Jay Wright, Rollie Massimino, Bob Weinhauer, Phil Martelli...). Add Fran to the list. The next BB coaching legend at Iowa.