Had you asked the average college basketball fan who Ben McCollum was last year, they’d likely have no idea.
Only diehard fans could have told you he was among the NCAA’s most successful Division II basketball coaches. In 15 years at Northwest Missouri State University, he led them to four National Championships, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, and an overall record of 395-91.
For years, McCollum preached that he would only leave for the right Division I opportunity. Last off-season, that opportunity finally presented itself.
McCollum, a native of Iowa City, Iowa, always wanted to stay close to home. He often referred to Iowa as “God’s country” and talked about how he carried a chip on his shoulder everywhere as a mark of his small-town upbringing. So when Drake University out of Des Moines, Iowa called, it was a match made in heaven.
When McCollum first arrived at Drake, he had big shoes to fill. Darian DeVries, the previous Drake Head Coach, led the Bulldogs to back-to-back March Madness appearances and took the job at West Virginia University.
After a majority of the team’s players had graduated or entered the transfer portal, McCollum had a roster to build.
Instead of going straight to the high major transfer portal, McCollum went close to home. Bennett Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, Isaiah Jackson, and Mitch Mascari all played under McCollum at Northwest Missouri State. While it’s not rare for a player to transfer from Division II to I, it’s not often a team has four such transfers.
McCollum believed in his guys and his belief paid off.
2024-25 Season
Heading into the 2024-25 season, the national media was not high on the Drake Bulldogs despite their recent success.
In the official Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, the Bulldogs were projected to finish fifth out of 12 teams. Instead, the Bradley University Braves were projected to win the conference.
That would quickly change, however, after a 12-0 start to the season that included wins over high-major programs Vanderbilt and Kansas State. By week four of the regular season, the Bulldogs were already receiving votes in the national media’s AP Poll.
It was clear that Drake, once again, was a force to be reckoned with.
By season’s end, the Bulldogs had compiled an impressive 27-3 record and won the MVC regular season title. McCollum was voted the conference’s Coach of the Year, and Stirtz was named Player of the Year.
The job wasn’t finished. To secure a spot in March Madness, the Bulldogs would need to win three games in three days and capture the MVC Tournament Championship.
Arch Madness, a four-day tournament held in St. Louis, Missouri. One winner to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s the reality of being a mid-major in the NCAA. You can have an extremely successful season like Drake, but losing in the conference tournament can unfortunately end your season. While the Bulldogs had a case for an at-large bid, the easiest path was to win the conference tournament.
McCollum Takes On the Arch
While three games in three days may seem daunting, McCollum’s team didn’t bat an eye. After beating Southern Illinois and Belmont in the first two rounds, the Bulldogs had a date with Bradley in the championship.
These two teams split the regular-season series. This was the perfect way to break the tie, with the winner clinching a spot in the big dance.
Led by a 24-point performance from Stirtz, the Bulldogs cruised to a 63-48 victory.
“It feels great. It’s the result of a lot of work… filling out a roster of twelve, hiring a great staff, getting great kids, great players, and obviously, this is a result of a lot of those things,” said McCollum after the game.
The Bulldogs are poised to be one of the highest-ranked mid-major programs heading into Selection Sunday. According to Joe Lunardi’s recent bracketology, the Bulldogs project as an 11-seed.
McCollum’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed at the high-major level either. He had received calls from Division I schools for years while still at Northwest Missouri State. Now that he has proven success at that level, many believe he will be a top candidate for multiple potential job openings in the Big Ten Conference.
McCollum and the Bulldogs celebrate and look forward to hearing their name called on Selection Sunday.
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