Ben McCollum

Ben McCollum
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Drake
Conference	MVC
Record	11–0 (1.000)
Biographical details
Born	April 12, 1981 (age 43); Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Playing career
1999–2001	North Iowa Area CC
2001–2003	Northwest Missouri State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2005	Northwest Missouri State (GA)
2005–2009	Emporia State (assistant)
2009–2024	Northwest Missouri State
2024–present	Drake
Head coaching record
Overall	406–91 (.817)
Tournaments	32–7 (NCAA Division II)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	4× NCAA Division II national champion (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022); 12× MIAA regular season (2012, 2014–2024); 8× MIAA tournament (2016–2020, 2022–2024)
Awards
	5× NABC Division II Coach of the Year (2017, 2019–2022); 5× NABC Division II Central District Coach of the Year (2017, 2019–2022); Basketball Times Division II Coach of the Year (2019); John McLendon Collegiate Basketball Coach of the Year (2019); Burns & McDonnell Coach of the Year (2019); 3× HoopDirt.com Division II Coach of the Year (2017, 2019, 2021); 3× Clarence Gaines National Coach of the Year (2012, 2020, 2022); 8× MIAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2015–2017, 2019–2021, 2023)

Benjamin M. McCollum (born April 12, 1981) is the men's basketball head coach at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Biography

McCollum was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1999. He played basketball for two years at North Iowa Area Community College before transferring in 2001 to Northwest Missouri State, where he played for Steve Tappmeyer as the school made its first Elite Eight appearance. He graduated from Northwest in 2003 with a degree in business finance and received a master's degree in athletic administration from the school in 2004. He was an assistant coach at Emporia State University from 2004 to 2008, then joined Northwest Missouri State as its head coach in 2009.^[1]

McCollum's team struggled the first two seasons with records of 12–15 in 2009–10 and 10–16 in 2010–11. In the 2011–12 season, his team went 22–7, won the regular-season MIAA crown and played in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In 2012, he was honored for the turnaround with the Clarence Gaines Award as the best NCAA Division II coach.^[2]

His teams then went on the greater success, reaching the Division II Sweet 16 three years in a row from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016, and in 2016-2017 he won his first of four DII national championship at Northwest Missouri State. He then led the team to more national championships, in 2018-2019, and then back to back in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. He also won the Clarence Gaines Award again in 2020 and 2022. McCollum finished his Northwest Missouri State career with four national titles.

McCollum was hired as head coach of the Drake Bulldogs in 2024.^[3]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Northwest Missouri State Bearcats (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) (2009–2024)
2009–10	Northwest Missouri State	12–15	7–13	9th
2010–11	Northwest Missouri State	10–16	8–14	10th
2011–12	Northwest Missouri State	22–7	15–5	T–1st	NCAA Division II First Round
2012–13	Northwest Missouri State	21–10	11–7	6th
2013–14	Northwest Missouri State	24–9	16–3	T–1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2014–15	Northwest Missouri State	25–7	15–4	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2015–16	Northwest Missouri State	27–6	19–3	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2016–17	Northwest Missouri State	35–1	18–1	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2017–18	Northwest Missouri State	27–4	16–3	1st	NCAA Division II First Round
2018–19	Northwest Missouri State	38–0	19–0	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2019–20	Northwest Missouri State	31–1	18–1	1st	NCAA Division II canceled
2020–21	Northwest Missouri State	28–2	21–1	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2021–22	Northwest Missouri State	34–5	18–4	T–1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2022–23	Northwest Missouri State	31–3	20–2	1st	NCAA Division II Second Round
2023–24	Northwest Missouri State	29–5	20–2	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
Northwest Missouri State:		395–91 (.813)	241–63 (.793)
Drake Bulldogs (Missouri Valley Conference) (2024–present)
2024–25	Drake	11–0	1–0
Drake:		11–0 (1.000)	1–0 (1.000)
Total:		406–91 (.817)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

^ "Northwest hires new basketball coach". March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Hertel, Alyssa (April 1, 2024). "Drake basketball tabs Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State coach, to lead program". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 1, 2024.

External links

McCollum's Biography

This biographical article relating to a United States basketball coach is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Northwest hires new basketball coach". March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2018.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] Hertel, Alyssa (April 1, 2024). "Drake basketball tabs Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State coach, to lead program". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 1, 2024.

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