After Darian DeVries announced he was leaving the Drake Bulldog basketball program and headed for West Virginia, the Bulldogs were in search of a new head coach.
They didn’t have to look far, finding Ben McCollum just south in Maryville, Mo.
McCollum has been head coach of the Northwest Missouri State University for the past 15 seasons where he brought the Bearcats four national championships (2017, 2019,2021, 2022).
“I am honored to be a part of the Drake basketball family,” McCollum said in a statement on the Drake University website. “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…”
McCollum, an Iowa native from Iowa City, attended North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City from 1999-2001 before transferring to Northwest Missouri State.
So you don’t have to trade in those Bulldogs jerseys just yet.
