HOUSTON (AP) — Though the stage keeps getting bigger, coach Ben McCollum continues to prove he’s a winner.

McCollum and Iowa’s underdog March Madness run ended with a loss to Illinois on Saturday, but his success in his first season with the Hawkeyes proved he can win at any level.

McCollum won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State before spending one season at Drake. He led the Bulldogs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before moving on to Iowa.

Last season, the Hawkeyes went 17-16 overall and 7-13 in Big Ten play, and Fran McCaffery was fired after 15 seasons. Iowa finished 2025-26 at 24-13.

“It’s got to be the biggest impact a first-year head coach has ever had in Iowa history,” the Hawkeyes’ Cooper Koch said. “What he’s done is pretty special, and there’s going to be many years of this to come.”

McCollum reflected on the ride he’s been on since leaving Northwest Missouri State after 15 years.

“You have to make yourself uncomfortable,” he said. “And it’s been uncomfortable for a couple years. But we’re getting there. We’re continuing to build and I certainly appreciate my family, my wife and kids and all that they have sacrificed for us to reach this goal, the goal of getting Iowa basketball to where it belongs. I think we’ve got a good foundation for that and we’ll continue to build it.”

No. 9 seed Iowa opened the tournament with a win over eighth-seeded Clemson before knocking off top seed and defending national champion Florida. The Hawkeyes beat Big Ten rival and No. 4 seed Nebraska on Thursday night. Their three wins in this tournament matches the number of March Madness victories they’d had in the last 20 years.

Next season, Iowa won’t have guard Bennett Stirtz, who finished with 24 points on Saturday. Stirtz played for McCollum for two seasons at Northwest Missouri State, then followed him to Drake and finally Iowa.

Stirtz didn’t get a single Division I offer out of high school but became a March Madness star.

“I just gave it my all in this Hawkeye uniform,” Stirtz said. “But I just hope that they have continued success and that’s all I want for them. They will do just that. It’s hard to put everything into words right now, but I gave it my all and we all gave it our all and it was a fun run.”

McCollum credited Stirtz, Tavion Banks and the other players who followed him from Drake for Iowa’s success.

“Bennett, Tavion, those guys started this,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. I think they will look back at it in 10 years and hopefully we’ll be going to Final Fours and winning championships and they will sit there and say, ‘Man, I did that.’”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness