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Iowa Hawkeyes extending men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery's contract through 2028

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery signed a four-year contract extension through 2027-28 on Monday after leading the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes to the Big Ten tournament semifinals and their highest NCAA tournament seeding since 1987.

The Hawkeyes are 21-8 and finished third in the Big Ten regular season at 14-6. They've been ranked in the top 15 every week this season and peaked at No. 5 last week. The team is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Grand Canyon on Friday in Indianapolis.

McCaffery's annual base salary of $2.3 million for the next two seasons will remain unchanged. He took a 15% pay cut for this year to help the athletic department offset shortfalls caused by the pandemic. He is on track to receive longevity bonuses at the end of the next two seasons.

His annual salary will increase each of the last five years of the deal. Those increases were not announced.

"I am excited to announce the extension of Fran's contract," athletic director Gary Barta said. "He's earned it. He's built a strong foundation upon which we can continue to build for years to come. We originally planned to provide the extension at the end of last season but paused due to the pandemic. I've appreciated Fran's patience through it all."

Iowa has finished in the upper half of the Big Ten in eight of McCaffery's 11 seasons and has won at least 20 games seven times. The Hawkeyes are in the NCAA tournament for the fifth time since 2014 and feature national player of the year contender and school career scoring leader Luka Garza.

McCaffery is Iowa's second all-time winningest coach with 215 overall wins and 103 Big Ten victories.

"I am grateful to Gary Barta and President Bruce Harreld for their continued support," McCaffery said. "I am proud of what our team accomplished during the regular season, and we are eager to compete for a national championship this month."