Ben McCollum (born April 12, 1981)

Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Northwest Missouri State Bearcats
Current conference: Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA)
Northwest Missouri State record^: 365-86 (.809)
Overall record^: 365-86 (.809)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• MIAA (Div II) Regular Season Champion:  9  (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• MIAA (Div II) Tournament Champion:  5  (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
• NCAA Division II National Championships:  4  (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)
• NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances:  10  (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)

Awards:

• NABC Div II Coach of the Year:  5  (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• John McLendon Award:  1  (2019)
• Clarence Gaines Award:  3  (2012, 2020, 2022)
• MIAA (Div II) Coach of the Year:  6  (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2009-present	Northwest Missouri State
2005-2009	Emporia State (asst)
2003-2005	Northwest Missouri State (grad. asst)

Ben McCollum Facts

• Benjamin M. McCollum
• Born April 12, 1981
• Hometown: Storm Lake, Iowa
• Alma Mater: Northwest Missouri State University (BS, 2003 & MA, 2004)
• The Iowa-native started his career at North Iowa Area CC before transferring to D-II Northwest Missouri State in 2001
• Played two years for head coach Steve Tappmeyer, then served as a graduate assistant for two more seasons
• Spent four seasons as an assistant under David Moe at D-II Emporia State in Kansas
• Returned to Northwest Missouri in 2009 to take over as the Bearcats’ head coach
  • After two sub-.500 seasons to start, McCollum has built the program into a national D-II powerhouse
  • McCollum has won nine MIAA titles, five MIAA Tournaments and has been been to ten D-II NCAA Tournaments
    • In 2017, the Bearcats went 35-1 (18-1) and won the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship
    • McCollum and NW Missouri won another NCAA title in 2019, finishing a perfect 38-0 (19-0 MIAA)
    • 2020 team entered the postseason at 31-1 and ranked #1, but the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19
    • Over the following two seasons, the Bearcats won their third and fourth D-II National Championships in a six-year span
  • Five-time winner of the NABC (Div II) COY award and six-time winner of the MIAA (Div II) COY
    • In 2019, McCollum became the first D-II head coach to win the John McLendon Award
• Along with his wife, Michelle, has two sons and one daughter

Ben McCollum Coaching Tree

• Jordan Ashton (Iowa Wesleyan)
• Austin Meyer (Northwest Missouri State women’s)

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division II level only