Ben McCollum

For the outlaw in Oklahoma, see Ben Golden McCollum.

Benjamin Matthew McCollum (born April 12, 1981) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa.

Ben McCollum

Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Iowa
Conference	Big 10
Record	0–0 (–)
Biographical details
Born	(1981-04-12) April 12, 1981 (age 44) Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Playing career
1999–2001	North Iowa Area CC
2001–2003	Northwest Missouri State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2005	Northwest Missouri State (GA)
2005–2009	Emporia State (assistant)
2009–2024	Northwest Missouri State
2024–2025	Drake
2025–present	Iowa
Head coaching record
Overall	426–95 (.818)
Tournaments	1–1 (NCAA Division I) 32–7 (NCAA Division II)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 NCAA Division II tournament (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) 12 MIAA regular season (2012, 2014–2024) 8 MIAA tournament (2016–2020, 2022–2024) MVC regular season (2025) MVC tournament (2025)
Awards
5× NABC Division II Coach of the Year (2017, 2019–2022) 3× Clarence Gaines Award (2012, 2020, 2022) Basketball Times Division II Coach of the Year (2019) John McLendon Collegiate Basketball Coach of the Year (2019) 8× MIAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2015–2017, 2019–2021, 2023) MVC Coach of the Year (2025)

Biography

McCollum was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1999. He played basketball for two years at North Iowa Area Community College before transferring in 2001 to Northwest Missouri State, where he played for Steve Tappmeyer as the school made its first Elite Eight appearance. He graduated from Northwest in 2003 with a degree in business finance and received a master's degree in athletic administration from the school in 2004.

He was an assistant coach at Emporia State University from 2004 to 2008, then was named the head coach Northwest Missouri State in 2009.^[1]

McCollum's team struggled the first two seasons with records of 12–15 in 2009–10 and 10–16 in 2010–11. In the 2011–12 season, his team went 22–7, won the regular-season MIAA crown and played in the first round of the Division II NCAA tournament. In 2012, he was honored for the turnaround with the Clarence Gaines Award as the best NCAA Division II coach.^[2]

His teams then went onto greater success, reaching the Division II Sweet 16 three years in a row from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, he won the first of four DII national championships at Northwest Missouri State. His teams went on to with the national championship in 2019, 2021, and 2022. He also won the Clarence Gaines Award again in 2020 and 2022. McCollum finished his Northwest Missouri State career with four national titles.

McCollum was hired as head coach of the Drake Bulldogs in 2024.^[3] After taking the Bulldogs to the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first year with the school, he was named the head coach at Iowa on March 24, 2025.^[4]

Personal life

McCollum is married and has three children.^[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Northwest Missouri State Bearcats (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) (2009–2024)
2009–10	Northwest Missouri State	12–15	7–13	9th
2010–11	Northwest Missouri State	10–16	8–14	10th
2011–12	Northwest Missouri State	22–7	15–5	T–1st	NCAA Division II First Round
2012–13	Northwest Missouri State	21–10	11–7	6th
2013–14	Northwest Missouri State	24–9	16–3	T–1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2014–15	Northwest Missouri State	25–7	15–4	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2015–16	Northwest Missouri State	27–6	19–3	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2016–17	Northwest Missouri State	35–1	18–1	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2017–18	Northwest Missouri State	27–4	16–3	1st	NCAA Division II First Round
2018–19	Northwest Missouri State	38–0	19–0	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2019–20	Northwest Missouri State	31–1	18–1	1st	NCAA Division II canceled
2020–21	Northwest Missouri State	28–2	21–1	1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2021–22	Northwest Missouri State	34–5	18–4	T–1st	NCAA Division II National Champion
2022–23	Northwest Missouri State	31–3	20–2	1st	NCAA Division II Second Round
2023–24	Northwest Missouri State	29–5	20–2	1st	NCAA Division II Sweet 16
Northwest Missouri State:		395–91 (.813)	241–63 (.793)
Drake Bulldogs (Missouri Valley Conference) (2024–2025)
2024–25	Drake	31–4	17–3	1st	NCAA Division I Round of 32
Drake:		31–4 (.886)	17–3 (.850)
Total:		426–95 (.818)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion