HOUSTON — Social media rumors bubbled underneath the surface of the Iowa men’s basketball tournament run to the Elite 8.
As the Hawkeyes made their deepest run into the NCAA Tournament in 39 years, opposing fans and national media alike began to speculate and tie Iowa head coach Ben McCollum to the head coaching vacancy at North Carolina.
Ahead of the Hawkeyes matchup with Illinois on Saturday, McCollum quashed those rumors and said he intended to return as Iowa’s head coach next year.
“Those are all lies,” McCollum said. “The only person that would ever know would be -- well, three people would be my athletic director, my wife, and that's about it. I guess two people (laughing).”
Early in the day, when compared to Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti on the Pat McAfee Show, due to the duo’s similar meteoric rises, McCollum said he would prefer to be compared to Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz.
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He expanded on those comments during his press conference on Wednesday.
“Why would I like the coach at Indiana?” McCollum siad. “We're cheering for the Hawkeyes here. That's why. No, Kirk's — he's as classy as it gets. He's done a great job with his entire program of recruiting great kids and great people and created a great culture.
“Anytime you can compare yourself to that, it's a big deal. But I'm certainly not going to compare myself to somebody from Indiana. No disrespect. He obviously accomplished a lot of good things and certainly it's humbling, but I'm a Kirk guy.”
The comparison goes deeper than the colors McCollum and Ferentz share. While both sport the Tigerhawk, they also found success in Iowa City in similar ways.
Both built premiere cultures and never let their teams stop improving.
Following a 41-3 win over Minnesota during the 2025 football season, Ferentz discussed what allowed the Hawkeyes to improve after a shaky start to the season.
“The improvement thing, that's kind of been our mantra or our theme with our players the last month,” Ferentz said. “Let's focus on getting better. I think they have done that. They've had to do that because, especially the last two weeks, these are tough games. Happy to see that, and the bigger picture is just hoping they understand, if they keep their focus where they need to, we'll keep improving.
“That's kind of what we're banking on or hoping for, as the season goes on, we just keep getting better, a little smarter, and a little more precise.”
And, according to Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, that’s exactly what McCollum has done this season at Iowa. After a 75-69 loss to the Illini earlier this season, the Hawkeyes have only gotten better.
“I think they're much better than their seed,” Underwood said. “Well-coached, great point guard, and a team that's gotten better since the first time we played them. … (They’re) a team that has continued to just play great throughout the tournament.
“… His teams have always won because they continue to get better. They don't stay status quo.
I followed his teams at Northwest Missouri. … He knows how to coach, he knows how to win and he's established that culture in a very quick amount of time and found a lot of success.”
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
