Philly's McCaffery leaving Siena for Iowa

Iowa has convinced Philadelphia native Fran McCaffery to leave Siena to become the Hawkeyes' new coach.

Athletic director Gary Barta announced the hiring in a release yesterday and said McCaffery would be introduced in a press conference today in Iowa City.

McCaffery, a star guard at La Salle High who played collegiately at Wake Forest and Penn, went 112-51 in five seasons at Siena, leading the Saints to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Siena lost to Purdue in the first round this year and finished with a 27-7 record.

McCaffery replaces Todd Lickliter, who was fired after Iowa went 10-22 this year.

The Hawkeyes last made the NCAA Tournament in 2006 - losing to Northwestern State on a three at the buzzer - and coach Steve Alford left for New Mexico following the 2007 season. While Alford has built the Lobos into a force in the Mountain West Conference, Iowa hasn't had a winning season since he left.

Once one of the top programs in the Big Ten, the Hawkeyes went 38-58 under Lickliter while sinking to the bottom of the league.

McCaffery, who turns 51 in May, has taken three different programs to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach.

McCaffery spent six seasons at UNC-Greensboro, posting a 90-87 record, before taking over at Siena before the 2005-06 season. McCaffery also coached Lehigh for three seasons, guiding it to the NCAA Tournament in 1988, before leaving to become an assistant at Notre Dame.

Lickliter saw a number of key players transfer during his tenure. One of McCaffery's first duties is to make sure the Hawkeyes' current core of players, including sophomores Matt Gatens and Aaron Fuller and promising freshmen Eric May and Cully Payne, stick around to help him rebuild the program.

* Kevin Willard is leaving Iona to become Seton Hall's new coach, the Associated Press has reported. A person familiar the hiring told AP that the 34-year-old Willard has agreed to replace Bobby Gonzalez, who was fired on March 17 after a 19-win season that was beset by problems off the court.

Willard took over an Iona program that was in the bottom 10 among Division I teams in RPI 3 years ago and led it to a 21-10 record this season, earning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coach of the year award.

* U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess, who led the nation in scoring in 1960-61 when he averaged 32.4 points for Gonzaga, has died after battling cancer. He was 75.