Iowa basketball hires former Drake coach Ben McCollum
Iowa basketball hires former Drake coach Ben McCollum
After a Sunday filled with some anxiety, ESPN insiders Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello reported that Iowa has agreed to a deal to make Ben McCollum the Hawkeyes' next head basketball coach.
McCollum takes over in Iowa City after one season at Drake where he guided the Bulldogs to a 31-4 (17-3 Missouri Valley) record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament's round of 32. Under McCollum's direction, 11th-seeded Drake defeated No. 6 seed Missouri, 67-57, to open up its run in March Madness before falling to No. 3 seed Texas Tech, 77-64, in Wichita, Kan.
For his work this season at Drake, McCollum won Missouri Valley Coach of the Year honors and was a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
McCollum becomes the 23rd head men's basketball coach in Iowa history. Thamel and Borzello's report confirms a Sunday report from Hawkeye Insider's David Eickholt who reported that Iowa was working to finalize a deal with McCollum.
Prior to his lone season at Drake, McCollum spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Division II Northwest Missouri State where he compiled a 394-91 record and captured four national championships. The Bearcats won 11 straight MIAA regular-season titles to end McCollum's tenure and 12 total.
Before McCollum was named head coach, the program had won just four MIAA titles over the previous 62 seasons. The Bearcats went 38-0 in 2018-19 and suffered just one loss in both the 2016-17 and 2019-20 seasons.
McCollum replaces Fran McCaffery, who Iowa fired following a 17-16 (7-13 Big Ten) finish this past season. Iowa missed each of the past two NCAA Tournaments.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnREF
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