One week after coach Darian DeVries left for West Virginia, Drake’s males’s basketball crew employed Ben McCollum of Division II Northwest Missouri State, the college introduced Monday.
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 ‼️
We’re thrilled to introduced the hiring of Ben McCollum because the thirtieth head coach in Drake males’s basketball historical past.#DrakeALLIN | #DSMHometownTeam | @CoachMcCollum pic.twitter.com/qwGOv5FQJK
— Drake Basketball (@DrakeBulldogsMB) April 1, 2024
McCollum, 42, guided the Bearcats to 4 Division II nationwide titles since 2017 and has gained the final 11 MIAA convention championships. Northwest Missouri State misplaced the regional title this 12 months to Minnesota State-Mankato 43-42 on a buzzer beater. The Bearcats gained Division II championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
He was 394-91 general however since 2017, Northwest was 253-21.
In DeVries’ six years at Drake, the Bulldogs had been 150-55 and had six straight 20-win campaigns. Drake appeared in three of the final 4 NCAA Tournaments and gained the final two Missouri Valley Convention match titles.
What this imply for Drake
McCollum’s success in a stable Division II league proves his teaching prowess. There shall be a slight adjustment to the recruiting uptick however not as stark because it first seems.
McCollum is from Storm Lake, which is northwest Iowa, and has recruited primarily in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri plus the Chicagoland, which all are key areas within the Bulldogs’ footprint. McCollum now could have entry to barely higher-echelon expertise in that area.
DeVries was extensively revered and it was his time to take over at an influence convention program. McCollum has garnered the identical respect in basketball circles. He performed junior faculty basketball at North Iowa Space Group School adopted by two years at Northwest.
For 12 straight seasons, the Bearcats have gained a minimum of 25 video games — the longest stretch within the NCAA.
Required studying
(Photograph: A.J. Mast / NCAA Photographs by way of Getty Photographs)
