McCollum leaving NWMSU for Drake
Apr. 1—Four-time national championship head coach Ben McCollum is headed to the Division I ranks after 15 seasons at Northwest Missouri State University.
McCollum will become the next head coach for Drake men's basketball of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off of a 28-7 season, in which they were an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament before being bounced in the first round by Washington State.
McCollum is returning to his home state of Iowa to take over the Drake program, located in Des Moines. The news of McCollum's hiring at Drake comes roughly one week after former head coach Darian DeVries left the Bulldog program for the head coach job at West Virginia.
In a story released by Drake University, McCollum was quoted saying, "I am honored to be a part of the Drake basketball family. We have seen the transition Drake basketball has made over the past few seasons to become one of the most successful mid-majors in that span."
Northwest Missouri State also released a statement after news broke of McCollum's hiring on Monday. Director of Athletics at Northwest Andy Peterson mentioned that the university is proud and excited for McCollum to be named the next head coach at Drake.
"(McCollum) has earned every bit of this opportunity and I know he is ready personally and professionally to take on this new challenge," Peterson said.
According to Northwest, a national search to fill the vacancy at head coach will begin immediately.
McCollum will leave Northwest with a career record of 394-91, four Division II national championships, 12 MIAA regular season titles, eight MIAA Tournament championships and five-time NABC Division II National Coach of the Year.
Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.
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