Ben McCollum: Ben McIowa

Ben McCollum, 44 is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa, which hired him this past offseason after a wildly succession debut season as a D1 level coach at Drake. A native of Storm Lake, Iowa, McCollum put together one of the most impressive stretches in recent coaching history during 15 remarkably successful seasons at Northwest Missouri State. Under his leadership, the Bearcats captured four national championships, went to six Elite Eights, and posted five 30‑win seasons, earning McCollum a reputation as one of the game’s premier program builders and the ignominious honor of being the original #SearchSZN darling. A former Northwest Missouri State guard himself, McCollum transitioned into coaching shortly after graduation, first as a GA at his alma mater, then as an assistant at Emporia State and finally back to his alma mater bas head coach beginning in 2009. McCollum joined the show from Des Moines to talk about how he builds programs, why his success at lower levels will translate to the Big Ten, and whether he was familiar with the Curry Hicks Sage’s impassioned internet bullying campaign aimed at convincing the UMass Athletic Director to hire him in 2022.

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