Fran McCaffery has been the head coach of the Iowa men's basketball program since 2010-2011. That's a long time to coach at one university for any coach, but there's a potential that he may be losing his luster in Iowa City as a result.

McCaffery has had times of sustained success. Iowa made three-straight NCAA Tournaments from 2013-14 to 2015-16 and then had another three trips in a row from 2020-21 to 2022-23.

The problem? The Hawkeyes were 19-15 last season and missed the tournament, and this season they're 14-11, which includes a 5-9 Big Ten record. They've also lost seven of their last nine games and they're playing bad basketball. That may have some in Iowa City — specifically Athletic Director Beth Goetz — thinking about going in a different direction at the end of the season.

There are plenty of exciting up-and-coming coaches in college basketball, but Chris Hassel, who covers the Hawkeyes on the "Iowa Everywhere" podcast, feels that Drake's Ben McCollum should be the top choice should Iowa move on from McCaffery.

Hassel explained that he's heard that many coaches respect McCollum and actually go to him for coaching advice when they need it. There are also massive plusses for McCollum as it relates to Iowa. He was born in Iowa City, so this would be a homecoming for him. He also already has in-state connections as the current coach at Drake, which is in Des Moines, Iowa.

"What he's doing at Drake with those guys, I think he might be the best option," Hassel explained. "There's a smaller buyout at Drake than [there would be for] Darian [DeVries] at West Virginia. A much better chance to get him. He's only in the Valley and he's already in-state. He's ascending in his coaching career. "

Hassel is right. McCollum has Drake playing great basketball in his first season as head coach. The Bulldogs are 23-3 and at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference at the time of this writing.

Hassel mention West Virginia basketball head coach Darian DeVries as another option as well, but as mentioned, it would be harder for Iowa to pull DeVries from West Virginia than it would be to take care of a buy-out of McCollum at Drake.

It's worth noting that DeVries also has his own strong Iowa ties, though. He was born in Aplington, Iowa, played hoops at Northern Iowa and he was the coach McCollum replaced at Drake when he took the WVU job.

DeVries now has Big 12 coaching experience, which would be nice for the Hawkeyes, but his Mountaineers are 14-10 and not nearly as exciting of a March Madness pick as McCollum's Drake team...which is playing for a NCAA Tournament auto-bid in the MVC.

If Iowa is looking for an exciting up-and-comer, McCollum would certainly fit the bill.