Iowa's Fran McCaffery says he's in it for 'the long haul'

IOWA CITY - Almost a year into his job as Iowa's men's basketball coach, Fran McCaffery has yet to reflect on his first season on the Iowa bench.

McCaffery does recall how he felt when he was offered the Iowa job and what it meant for him to coach in the Big Ten.

“I never wavered on that decision,” McCaffery said. “I knew all about this program. I have a great affinity for the Big Ten, and I have tremendous great respect for it. To coach in the Big Ten was a challenge that I looked forward to and welcomed and was excited about.

“I've gotten support from President (Sally) Mason, (Athletics Director) Gary Barta, and pretty much everybody that's a Hawkeye fan. Our players have committed to me, they've committed to one another to getting better. We've seen an improvement in individuals, we've seen improvement as a team.”

McCaffery had offers from Big East schools Seton Hall and St. John's but picked Iowa in part because of family - four young children - but also for the program's potential. So far it's been a trying season for McCaffery and the team, which is in the midst of its fourth straight losing season.

But Saturday's 67-65 victory against No. 6 Purdue has elevated the program's profile and McCaffery himself. It was only one win - and one that kept the Hawkeyes from their first last-place finish in 17 years - but it erased the pain of several close losses. Iowa had lost two games in overtime and five games by three points to major college opponents.

Entering Saturday's game, Iowa had dropped 25 straight games to ranked opponents and eight in a row to Purdue, which had a seven-game overall winning streak. Despite a 7:20 second-half stretch when the Hawkeyes scored only one field goal and lost the lead, Iowa rallied in the final four minutes and answered each Boilermaker bucket with one of their own to clinch the season's biggest victory in their home finale.

McCaffery, 51, credited the leadership of senior Jarryd Cole, who scored 12 points in the first half and hit a pair of vital jumpers to keep Iowa in the lead late. Cole, in turn, credited the team for its fight.

“It seemed like they matured for 40 minutes in one day,” Cole said. “That was great to see. Just the fact that they can hold it together like that shows their character also, not just mine.”

“I think without question it was our best 40-minute effort of the season,” McCaffery said.

In the win-loss column, it goes down as another losing season. Another 10th-place finish. Another March without madness. But with one win the future felt a little brighter for Iowa basketball. A future McCaffery vowed to make his own.

“I'm in it for the long haul,” he said. “You have to just bear down and keep working, and I've surrounded myself with a great staff and I've recruited quality people to this program. We're just going to keep doing that and keep working and get better.”