Ben McCollum coaching timeline: How Iowa coach went from D2 Northwest Missouri State to March Madness berth
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Ben McCollum coaching timeline: How Iowa coach went from D2 Northwest Missouri State to March Madness berth originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Ben McCollum was one of the most successful Division II coaches in recent memory and he has taken his coaching style to Division I.
After 15 years at Northwest Missouri State, he left his alma mater and became the head coach at Drake for one season. Even though the sample size was small, he showed he could still win at the Division I level, which led to his move to become the head coach of Iowa.
McCollum responded by leading the Hawkeyes to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. He has already helped Iowa reach its best postseason finish this century in just his first year at the program.
While his future in Iowa City looks bright, here is a look back at his coaching timeline.
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Ben McCollum teams coached
McCollum has been on five coaching staffs in his short career, serving as the head coach of three of them. After he played his collegiate ball at North Iowa Area Community College and Northwest Missouri State, he immediately got into coaching. McCollum has been a coach since 2003, starting as a graduate assistant at his alma mater and then taking an assistant job at Emporia State. He then returned to his alma mater as the head coach and has since been the bench boss at Drake and Iowa.
Ben McCollum coaching timeline
- 2003-2005 Northwest Missouri State (Graduate Assistant)
- 2005-2009 Emporia State (assistant)
- 2009-2024 Northwest Missouri State (Head Coach)
- 2024-2025 Drake (Head Coach)
- 2025-present Iowa (Head Coach)
Northwest Missouri State
McCollum was born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1981. He started his collegiate basketball career at North Iowa Area Community College and then transferred to Northwest Missouri State after two years. McCollum spent two years playing for the Bearcats.
After his playing career ended, he stayed with the program as a graduate assistant. He left after two more years and went to Emporia State as an assistant. Four years later, he returned to his alma mater, this time as the head coach. In his first season at the helm of the Bearcats, the team went 12-15. Northwest Missouri State had a losing record again in 2010-2011, drawing concern that McCollum may not be the coaching answer.
The Bearcats made the postseason under McCollum for the first time in 2012 and were eliminated in the first round. After missing the postseason in 2013, McCollum then led Northwest Missouri State to 10 straight NCAA Division II Tournaments, including national championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Drake
After his sustained success at Northwest Missouri State, McCollum finally left his alma mater and accepted the head coaching job at Drake. He and the Bulldogs went 31-4, won the Missouri Valley Conference, and earned an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Drake was awarded a No. 11 seed and was matched up with No. 6 Missouri in the first round. McCollum and the Bulldogs pulled off the upset win 67-57.
They matched up with No. 3 Texas Tech in the second round, but lost 77-64, ending their Cinderella run early.
Iowa
After just one year at Drake, McCollum was offered and accepted the head coaching job at the University of Iowa. The Hawkeyes had a 23-12 overall record in the 2025-2026 season and went 10-10 in conference play. Iowa still qualified for the 2026 NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, earning the No. 9 seed. The Hawkeyes joined the other No. 9 seeds in the tournament by defeating their No. 8 opponents in the first round.
Iowa beat No. 8 Clemson 67-61 in the first round. The Hawkeyes advanced to a tough matchup in the Round of 32 against No. 1 Florida. McCollum led Iowa to another upset win and helped the Hawkeyes punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999.
SN AWARDS: All-America team | Boozer Player of the Year | Lloyd Coach of the Year
Ben McCollum coaching record
Here is McCollum's career coaching record, including his time as the head coach of Northwest Missouri State in Division II.
YearTeamOverallPlayoff Result2009-10Northwestern Missouri State12-15--2010-11Northwestern Missouri State10-16--2011-12Northwestern Missouri State22-7L, D2 First Round2012-13Northwestern Missouri State21-10--2013-14Northwestern Missouri State24-9L, D2 Sweet 162014-15Northwestern Missouri State25-7L, D2 Sweet 162015-16Northwestern Missouri State27-6L, D2 Sweet 162016-17Northwestern Missouri State35-1Won D2 championship2017-18Northwestern Missouri State27-4L, D2 First Round2018-19Northwestern Missouri State38-0Won D2 championship2019-20Northwestern Missouri State31-1cancelled2020-21Northwestern Missouri State28-2Won D2 championship2021-22Northwestern Missouri State34-5Won D2 championship2022-23Northwestern Missouri State31-3L, D2 Second Round2023-24Northwestern Missouri State29-5L, D2 Sweet Sixteen2024-25Drake31-4L, Second Round2025-26Iowa23-12TBDTotal3 teams449-107--Ben McCollum March Madness record
Here is more on McCollum's record in the NCAA Division 1 Tournament.
YearTeamRecordResult2024-2025Drake1-1Eliminated Round of 322025-2026Iowa2-0TBDTotal--3-1--MORE: Sporting News ranks the top 140 sports moments of all time
How many championships has Ben McCollum won?
McCollum has yet to win a Division 1 national championship. He did win four Division II national championships with Northwest Missouri State. McCollum won the MVC tournament with Drake in 2025, but is still looking for his first Power 5 conference championship.