Iowa rewards Fran McCaffery with seven-year contract

Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery has signed a seven-year contract, Iowa Director of Athletics Gary Barta announced Tuesday morning. McCaffery, who is 29-37 in two seasons at Iowa, will make a minimum average of $1.66 million annually over the length of the contract, beginning with a base salary of $1.3 million in 2012-13.

[HawkeyeSports.com: McCaffery signs 7-year contract]

?Two years into his tenure, I?m thrilled with where Fran is taking our program,? Barta said in a release. ?He has done an outstanding job, in all phases."

This past season, McCaffery led the Hawkeyes to the NIT, the program's first postseason appearance since 2006. Iowa finished the campaign at 18-17.

?I am very excited to sign this contract,? McCaffery said. ?We have made tremendous progress in all phases of the program in two seasons. I appreciate the support and confidence expressed by President Sally Mason and Gary Barta in signing this contract.

#Iowa finished 18-17 last season. It was the #Hawkeyes' most wins in a season since the 2005-06 team finished 25-9. #Hawks #B1G

— BTNStatsGuys (@BTNStatsGuys) July 10, 2012

This was really just a matter of time given how much the culture surrounding the program has changed since he arrived 2 years ago.

— Brendan Stiles (@thebstiles) July 10, 2012

Nice raise for Fran McCaffery on new 7-year deal at Iowa. Terrific coach, worked long time to be rewarded at $1.66 m average.

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) July 10, 2012

Seven-year contract for Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery. Smart move, well earned.

— Marc Morehouse (@marcmorehouse) July 10, 2012

Essentially, McCaffery gets 3 extra years at about $500,000 more a season.

— Luke Meredith (@LukeyMeredith) July 10, 2012