Iowa Hires Drake's Ben McCollum As New Head Men's Basketball Coach

McCollum's hiring completes a meteoric rise for the former Division II basketball coach.

Iowa hired Drake men's basketball coach Ben McCollum to replace Fran McCaffery. / Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have hired Drake's Ben McCollum as the program's new head men's basketball coach, according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello.

Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz confirmed the hiring to Scott Dochterman of The Athletic, noting that the contract with McCollum was completed late last night.

The 43-year-old McCollum will replace Fran McCaffery, who was fired earlier this month after 15 years at Iowa. The Hawkeyes failed to make the NCAA tournament after finishing 7-13 in Big Ten play.

McCollum's hiring completes a meteoric rise that began at the Division II level at Northwest Missouri State, where he helped the program capture four national titles in 15 seasons.

He made the jump to Division I this season at Drake, where the Bulldogs went 31-4 and won both regular-season title in the Missouri Valley, as well as the conference tournament. Drake upset Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling 77-64 to Texas Tech in the round of 32.

---

More College Basketball on Sports Illustrated

feed