Drake basketball takeaways: New coach Ben McCollum's pitch to recruits
New Drake basketball coach Ben McCollum was finishing his introductory press conference Tuesday when a question came from a fan in the audience.
The Bulldogs had been hit hard by the transfer portal after previous coach Darian DeVries left for West Virginia. The fan wanted to know why anyone would leave Drake.
“That’s a great question,” McCollum said with a smile. “I think you need to talk to them. See if you get that Tucker DeVries kid to stay.”
The response earned a big round of laughs from the room full of McCollum's friends and family, along with fans of the Bulldogs. But the question is a big one for McCollum, who takes over a roster that has been gutted and is losing its biggest star in Darian DeVries’ son Tucker, who is headed to West Virginia. But McCollum said he’s already started to work toward building his first Drake team.
“It dominates a lot of time right now,” he said. “It’s a lot of sleepless nights and long days of phone calls.”
McCollum, who said he's already made multiple recruiting visits, will embrace the transfer portal and name, imagine and likeness rules. He said his main goal when recruiting players is to let them know they can develop on and off the court under his tutelage.
"Our objective has always been to make kids successful once they leave the institution," McCollum said. "So, every recruiting pitch that we give, it is, 'Can we make you better because you played basketball at this institution?' And that will be the same here at Drake."
Could any of Drake’s players who have entered the portal come back? McCollum didn’t rule it out.
“I don’t think they want me to share…hopefully if one of them recommits, then you’ll know,” he told reporters following his press confernce.
McCollum not ready to announce his Drake basketball staff
The other big part of McCollum’s job is getting his first staff at Drake together. McCollum wasn’t ready to make any announcements about who would be on it yet. But he said he hopes to get it put together in the next week or so.
McCollum's sons could be stars in the making as well
Even though Drake lost Darian and Tucker DeVries, the Bulldogs have another strong father/son duo on the court. Both of McCollum's sons, Peyton (17) and Tate (14) are accomplished basketball players. They have yet to settle on a high school for the two in Iowa. But whatever school lands them will certainly get a big boost. Peyton McCollum has already generated some interest from colleges. Could he follow his dad to Drake like Tucker did with Darian? The new Drake coach was asked if he's recruiting his oldest son.
"He's getting pretty good," Ben McCollum said. "So, we'll see."
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: New Drake basketball coach Ben McCollum is on the recruiting trail
