NCAAB

Iowa hires Ben McCollum as head coach

Iowa moving on from Fran McCaffery was surprising, simply because of how long he served as the Hawkeyes’ head coach. Now, the decision makes complete sense. McCollum is a gem of head coach — a strategist that can quickly build a program and win with the best of them.

The Iowa job is a mid-tier position in the Big Ten, but McCollum should have the Hawkeyes contending in the conference in Year 1 — he’s that good. It certainly won’t hurt that McCollum will probably bring some Drake players, most notably Bennett Stirtz, with him. This is a slam-dunk hire for Iowa.

Grade: A+

Columbia hires Kevin Hovde as head coach

The Todd Golden coaching tree is going to be huge one day, and it’s already starting to grow. Hovde has been an assistant with Florida for the past few seasons, so his experience with Golden — and ties to Columbia — should serve him well with the Lions.

Grade: B+