Steve Alford  

Steve Alford was named the head coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball program on March 22, 1999.

Although Alford's first game as coach was a 70-68 victory against the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies at Madison Square Garden, his team went 14-16 during his first season at Iowa. During his second year (2000-01) the Hawkeyes went 23-12 in the regular season and 7-9 in the Big Ten Conference regular season, but they won the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with four straight wins against Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Indiana. This earned them a #7 seed in the 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, where they defeated Creighton in the first round but lost to Kentucky in the second round.

The Hawkeyes' conference record dropped to 5-11 during the 2001-02 season, but they defeated Purdue, Wisconsin, and Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament before losing to Ohio State in the finals. The Hawkeyes played in the National Invitation Tournament that season, but lost to LSU in the first round to finish with a 19-16 record.

The Hawkeyes finished 21-12 with a 7-9 conference record in the 2004-2005 regular season, but they won their first two Big Ten Tournament games against Purdue and Michigan State before losing the third game to Wisconsin, 59-56. They earned an at-large invitation to the 2005 NCAA Tournament as a #10 seed, where they lost 76-64 to Cincinnati in the first round.

During the 2005-06 season, the Hawkeyes went undefeated at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and finished in a second-place tie with Illinois with an 11-5 conference record, one game behind Ohio State. However, the Hawkeyes defeated Minnesota, Michigan State, and Ohio State to win the Big Ten Tournament and finish 25-8 going into its third NCAA Tournament under Alford. They were seeded #3 in the Atlanta Regional of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, but lost in a first-round upset to #14 seed Northwestern State 64-63, leaving Alford with only one NCAA Tournament win since taking over at Iowa.

During the 2006-2007 season, Alford led the Hawkeyes to an 8-6 non-conference record (losing to in-state rivals Drake and Northern Iowa) and a 9-7 record in the Big Ten Conference (17-14 overall). Iowa failed to make the NCAA tournament or the NIT. It marked the first time since the 1976-1977 season that an Iowa team with a winning record has failed to make either the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

At the conclusion of the 2006-2007 season, Alford resigned from the University of Iowa to accept the coaching position at the University of New Mexico. He led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Tournament three times, but had a 61-67 record in the Big Ten, only once finishing higher than fourth in the conference.