Ben McCollum
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Iowa |
| Conference | Big 10 |
| Record | 0–0 (–) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 12, 1981 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 |
| 2024–2025 | Drake |
| 2025–present | Iowa |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 426–95 (.818) |
| Tournaments | 1–1 (NCAA Division I) 32–7 (NCAA Division II) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4 NCAA Division II tournament (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) 12 MIAA regular season (2012, 2014–2024) 8 MIAA tournament (2016–2020, 2022–2024) MVC regular season (2025) MVC tournament (2025) | |
| Awards | |
| 5× NABC Division II Coach of the Year (2017, 2019–2022) 3× Clarence Gaines Award (2012, 2020, 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) 8× MIAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2015–2017, 2019–2021, 2023) MVC Coach of the Year (2025) | |
Benjamin Matthew McCollum (born April 12, 1981) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa.
Biography
[edit]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 was named the head coach Northwest Missouri State 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 Division II 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 onto greater success, reaching the Division II Sweet 16 three years in a row from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, he won the first of four DII national championships at Northwest Missouri State. His teams went on to with the national championship in 2019, 2021, and 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] After taking the Bulldogs to the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first year with the school, he was named the head coach at Iowa on March 24, 2025.[4]
Personal life
[edit]McCollum is married and has three children.[5]
Head coaching record
[edit]| 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) (2024–2025) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Drake | 31–4 | 17–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| Drake: | 31–4 (.886) | 17–3 (.850) | |||||||
| Total: | 426–95 (.818) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Northwest hires new basketball coach". March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- ^ "McCollum named DII National Coach of the Year". Northwest Missouri State University Athletics. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
- ^ Hertel, Alyssa (April 1, 2024). "Drake basketball tabs Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State coach, to lead program". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "Iowa hires Drake's McCollum as hoops coach". ESPN.com. March 24, 2025. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
- ^ "Ben McCollum - Head Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches". Drake University Athletics. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
External links
[edit]
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- 1982 births
- Living people
- American men's basketball coaches
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball coaches from Iowa
- Basketball players from Iowa City, Iowa
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Drake Bulldogs men's basketball coaches
- Emporia State Hornets basketball coaches
- Junior college men's basketball players in the United States
- Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball coaches
- Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball players
- People from Storm Lake, Iowa
- American basketball coach stubs