Drake names McCollum as males’s hoops coach
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Jeff Borzello Close Jeff Borzello ESPN Staff Writer Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.Pete Thamel Apr 1, 2024, 03:50 PM
- ET Drake called Northwest
- Missouri State’s Ben McCollum as its next guys’s basketball head coach, athletic director Brian Hardin announced on Monday.The offer is for five years, sources informed ESPN.McCollum has been among the most successful college basketball coaches in the nation throughout his time at Northwest Missouri State, leading the
Bearcats to 4 Division II championship games and
a 394-91 record during his 15 seasons at the helm.Under McCollum, Northwest Missouri State has won 11 straight MIAA regular-season titles and 12 total. Prior to him taking over, the Bearcats had won simply 4 MIAA titles over the previous 62 seasons.He replaced Steve Tappmeyer– who
coached McCollum for two seasons at Northwest Missouri State from 2001 to 2003– in 2009 after 4 seasons as an assistant coach at Emporia State. After going a combined 22-31 in his very first two seasons, McCollum has led Northwest Missouri State to 13 straight 20-win seasons and made NABC Division II National Coach of the Year honors five times.The Bearcats went 38-0 in 2018-19 and suffered just one loss in both the 2016-17 and 2019-20 seasons.This past season, Northwest Missouri State ended up 29-5 total and 20-2 in conference play, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Department II tournament.At Drake, McCollum will replace Darian DeVries, who left last month to take control of at
West Virginia. DeVries led the Bulldogs to three NCAA competition looks in the past 4 seasons and a share of the Missouri Valley regular-season title in 2019.