Whatever happens with Iowa men’s basketball coaching situation, clarity needs to come soon

INDIANAPOLIS — If it weren’t the end of the season, and probably an era, the postgame scene sure felt like it for the Iowa men’s basketball team Thursday night.

Players sobbing and exchanging long, emotional hugs and words were everywhere you looked in the Hawkeyes’ dressing room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after their 106-94 loss to Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

At 17-16, odd as it may seem, Iowa could get invited to play in the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas that starts March 31. After Thursday’s game, McCaffery said it’s a viable option.

But that’s as far off in the distance as Vegas itself. The only question that matters involving Hawkeye men’s basketball right now is if Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz will retain McCaffery as Iowa’s coach given the program’s poor attendance and the indifference among too much of the fan base.

If anyone in Iowa’s administration has as much as suggested to McCaffery he’s not returning for a 16th season, he isn’t acknowledging it. He again said Thursday he plans on coming back.

“I do,” he said firmly.

So now we’ll wait for Goetz to have her say. These things can’t drag on very long one way or the other, because coaching candidates with buzz often have more than one suitor.

Also, because the NCAA transfer portal for men’s basketball opens on March 24 and is closed to applicants on April 22, new coaches and incumbents alike need all the time they can get to scout and recruit transfers.

Be it McCaffery or a successor, someone needs to be in place as soon as possible to try to keep any current Hawkeye players who may be getting the hard sell from somewhere else.

“We have guys that might be offered seven-figure deals,” McCaffery said, “which will challenge their thought process. You know, if you were 21 and somebody called you up and say ... come play for me for one million-five, you might think about it.

“So we're dealing with that. We will deal with that, but it's a close-knit group. Our coaching staff has great relationships with our guys. I fully anticipate those guys coming back and playing for us.”

Two things may linger longer from this game than the racehorse style of basketball in which a more-talented Illini team eventually pulled away.

One, McCaffery got two technical fouls and was ejected with 13:33 left.

Two, even with their defensive and rebounding shortcomings exploited by the Illini, McCaffery’s players battled for 40 minutes and then ached because they couldn’t come back here Friday to play again.

About the technicals, McCaffery said “I think I might have pointed out the foul discrepancies.

“I didn't think that was that egregious.”

He seemed to be talking calmly when he got the first one. Moments later, the calm was gone as he quickly got the second technical and the automatic ejection that came with it.

As for the players, how could you not like and respect how hard senior Hawkeye forward Payton Sandfort played for the umpteenth time? Sandfort went out with a 30-point game, matching his career-high. Oh, did he make some big shots and create a lot of excitement over four seasons, and did so with likability.

“It's the greatest honor of my life to be able to represent the black-and-gold,” Sandfort said. “That's why, you know, I gave it everything I did every day, the chance to play for Coach and the chance to play with so many great guys. It’s the honor of my lifetime.

“I wish I could repay this place as much as it gave to me, but you know, I gave it everything I had.”

Sandfort and Josh Dix (the junior guard who scored 21 points Thursday) played most of this season with wrist injuries. Sandfort had a separated shoulder in a midseason game and was back the next game.

“One of the toughest dudes I’ve ever been around,” McCaffery said.

If that Las Vegas thing somehow doesn’t pan out, Sandfort is done at Iowa. Dix surely will get feelers from other schools. Owen Freeman, the sophomore center whose 16.7-points-per-game season ended in January because of finger surgery, is getting substantial offers.

Asked Thursday what lies ahead for him, Freeman said “I’m not sure. I was just kind of focused on getting the finger back. That was my main goal and only real focus.”

The game has changed. We’ll see how much the game changes in Iowa City soon enough.

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