Ben McCollum coaching timeline: How Iowa coach went from D2 Northwest Missouri State to March Madness berth

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 . 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. MARCH MADNESS HQ: Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Latest news and more 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.