Report: Greg McDermott Accepts Coaching Job At Creighton, Leaves Iowa State

With longtime Creighton mainstay Dana Altman bolting for the greener pastures of Oregon (and all of their Nike money), the next coaching domino appears set to fall: Rivals reports that Iowa State coach Greg McDermott has agreed to replace Altman at Creighton. McDermott will reportedly receive a 10-year deal worth $9 million.

While leaving for Creighton may seem like a backwards move for McDermott, at this point, with things going in the wrong direction in Ames, it certainly makes a fair amount of sense to leave before likely being let go in a season or two, as the Des Moines Register explained. McDermott has struggled fielding competitive teams at Iowa State since coming aboard four seasons ago, due in large part to a series of player suspensions and transfers that have left the program in perpetual rebuilding mode. At Creighton, McDermott will be returning to the Missouri Valley Conference, which he obviously knows well, after navigating Northern Iowa to three NCAA tourney appearances in five seasons there before he had left for Iowa State.

For Creighton, McDermott gives them an experienced coach who’s proven who can win in the conference, and should keep them at the top of the Valley standings, a position they’d become used to under the serially underrated Altman. No word yet on who Iowa State might look at as a replacement.