Former Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery Will Coach His Alma Mater

After being dismissed as the men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa, Fran McCaffery said that he wanted to coach somewhere this year. It appears Fran will get his wish.

The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that Fran McCaffery is closing in on a deal to become the next head coach at Penn. Sources say that a deal between the school and McCaffery is ïminent."

McCaffery spent some of his playing and coaching days at Penn. The DP reports that McCaffery played at Wake Forest in 1977 and then transferred to Penn where he played from 1979 to 1982. He then spent the next season as an assistant coach for the Quakers. He replaces Steve Donahue and will serve as the 21st coach in the program's history. The DP reports that McCaffery's 12 NCAA Tournament appearances are the most of any Ivy League coach at the time of their hiring in history.

The DP reports that McCaffery served as head coach at Lehigh, North Carolina Greensboro, and Siena before landing as the men's coach at the University of Iowa in 2010. In his 15 seasons at Iowa, he earned seven trips to the NCAA Tournament but never advanced past the round of 32. He also coached five All-Americans including NBA Draft picks Luka Garza, and Keegan and Kris Murray.

The Penn program won 23 Ivy League titles from 1970 to 2006, but the team has won only 2 such titles since then. Can Fran revive his alma mater?

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