There are reasons Fran McCaffery is No. 1 in Iowa wins, reasons currently on display

It’s been gradual, not sudden, but suddenly the Iowa men’s basketball team is formidable once again.

The Hawkeyes’ 86-77 conquest of Minnesota Monday in Minneapolis was their third-straight conference win of nine or more points, lifting them to 3-3 in the Big Ten after an 0-3 start.

Iowa is looking like a winner. BTN’s game and studio announcers lauded the Hawkeyes Monday, talking about how they’re playing together and are as connected on the court as any Big Ten team right now.

Six different Iowa players had at least two assists, and three had five. Freshman center Owen Freeman has been stacking impressive performances for a while now. Sophomore guard Josh Dix has joined the conversation in a big way, with back-to-back career-highs, 16 points against Nebraska and 21 at Minnesota.

On top of that, Dix had five assists and two steals against the Gophers.

Brock Harding has experienced the typical ups and downs of a freshman point guard at the highest collegiate level, but the talent and know-how is there. He played a lot in the second half at Minnesota, and played well. So did frosh forward Ladji Dembele, whose +17 was the highest of anyone in the game.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised with how Iowa has snapped out of what seemed like a season that might never take off. The Hawkeyes were 0-3 in the Big Ten last season before winning their next four games and seven of the next nine.

This is, after all, a program with just one losing conference record in the previous nine seasons. It’s a program that finished the season in the AP Top 25 three times since 2020, and has appeared in the last four NCAA tournaments.

The NCAA tourney, of course, is where Fran McCaffery’s 14-year tenure at Iowa brings out negative comments. There has been no second-week advancement, and it was felt the 2021 and 2022 teams should have gone deeper into the tourney than they did.

Similar sentiments have been shared about No. 2 Purdue, Iowa’s opponent Saturday in Iowa City for what should be the best atmosphere at a Hawkeyes home game this season.

The NCAA tourney is the holy grail of college basketball. It often feels as if nothing matters except the tournament, which is bizarre given the teams play over 30 games before it starts.

Iowa’s 2022 Big Ten tournament title should have automatically made that season a resounding success. Beating Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana and Purdue on consecutive days was special, especially knocking off the last two in their home state.

This is a roundabout way of noting Fran McCaffery has become the Hawkeyes’ all-time wins leader. I would suggest McCaffery’s standing with Iowa fans would be as solid as any snow bank outside Carver-Hawkeye Arena had Iowa won one more NCAA game in 2021 or a couple in 2022, gotten to a Sweet 16.

But would you trade a consistently entertaining, winning team over the years with likable, extremely talented players for a mundane squad that wins twice in a single NCAA tourney?

Iowa has eight seasons of 20-plus wins under McCaffery and two more when it won 19, including last year’s NCAA tourney club. You had Luka Garza and Keegan Murray and Kris Murray doing fantastic things. Freeman looks like a player sure to reach that level before his time at Iowa is done.

The best legacy McCaffery has, in my opinion, is 14 years of running a clean program with players who not only have been fun to watch, but good to be around. His guys have been decent, intelligent, personable.

His players always seem to like each other. And, they always seem to like their coach. McCaffery’s in-game personality is famous, the scowling and barking and red face. But when have you ever heard him publicly criticize a player? When have you ever heard one of his players not express high regard for him?

This season’s Hawkeyes were 8-6 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten, with five of its losses were to teams currently in the Top 25. Now, Iowa is a win over Purdue Saturday from returning to an oh-so-familiar place under McCaffery, the upper division of the Big Ten.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com