By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Somewhat buried in Iowa’s release about ticket information for the 2025-26 winter sports teams is that there will now be a new courtside seating section at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa refers to the new section as a courtside riser with capacity for over 200 individuals. It will be installed on the south baseline and will be designated primarily for student seating.

The release says “this platform will enhance the in-game atmosphere by bringing fans close to the court in addition to providing additional floor level concession opportunities.”

And while this decision should have been made a long time ago, at least it’s happening, better late than never.

It’s a step, a first step in perhaps moving the entire student section closer to the court.

Why it didn’t happen during Fran McCaffery’s 15 seasons as head coach is a fair question and anybody’s guess.

Former Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta never seemed interested in moving the students closer to the court. He apparently didn’t see the value in doing it.

His successor, on the other hand, apparently sees it differently.

Beth Goetz said shortly after being named Iowa’s full-time athletic director that she would consider moving the students closer to the court. The fact that she was willing to at least consider making such a move was a positive step that ultimately led this new courtside riser.

It’s no secret that the game-day atmosphere for Iowa men’s basketball leaves so much to be desired.

The arena was often more than half empty for men’s games last season with the student section usually was just rows of empty seats.

The disconnect with fans is one of the reasons that led to Fran McCaffery being fired in mid-March despite being Iowa’s all-time winningest head coach.

He was replaced by Ben McCollum, who has since spent the past three months trying to bridge the gap with fans.

McCollum has traveled across the state for meet-and-greets, while also doing multiple interviews with the media.

His accessibility, coupled with with the usual excitement that comes with a head coaching change has helped to create a buzz for Iowa men’s basketball.

This new seating section will just add to the buzz.

It seems likely that moving the students closer to the court is one of the things that McCollum requested during negotiations.

McCollum came to Iowa after just one record-breaking season as the Drake head coach. He led the Bulldogs to a 31-4 record and to a win in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1971.

Beth Goetz didn’t waste any time in making a coaching change as Fran McCaffery was fired the day after the 2024-25 season ended.

Barely a week later, Iowa introduced McCollum as its next head coach.

The success of the Iowa women’s basketball team has shown that Carver-Hawkeye Arena can be transformed into an electric home atmosphere, even without the students sitting close to the court.

However, it also came from having two legendary players in Megan Gustafson and Caitlin Clark and from the Iowa women finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 2023 and 2024.

The Iowa men’s just haven’t come close to matching that success.

Caitlin Clark is arguably the most popular player in the history of women’s college basketball as she packed arenas wherever she played during her junior and senior seasons at Iowa.

The Iowa women’s basketball program still is feeding off the energy that she helped to create.

But there is no guarantee that the Iowa women will stay among the nation’s elite, so taking steps to improve the in-game atmosphere should be beneficial for both programs in the long run.