Ben McCollum
Ben McCollum (born April 12, 1981)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Drake Bulldogs
Current conference: Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
Northwest Missouri State record: 394-91 (.812)
Drake record: 0-0 (.000)
Overall record^: 394-91 (.812)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- Missouri Valley Regular Season Champion: 0
- MIAA (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 12 (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- Missouri Valley Tournament Champion: 0
- MIAA (Div II) Tournament Champion: 8 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- NCAA Division II National Championships: 4 (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 12 (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
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: 9 (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2024-present | Drake |
| 2009-2024 | 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 built the program into a national D-II powerhouse
- McCollum won twelve MIAA titles, eight MIAA Tournaments and went to twelve D-II NCAA Tournaments over fifteen seasons
- 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 nine-time winner of the MIAA (Div II) COY award
- In 2019, McCollum became the first D-II head coach to win the John McLendon Award
- In April 2024, McCollum was hired as the head coach at Drake in the Missouri Valley, his first D-I opportunity
Ben McCollum Coaching Tree
- Jordan Ashton (Iowa Wesleyan)
- Austin Meyer (Northwest Missouri State women’s)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels