A broken marker and unbreakable resolve: Ben McCollum's 'insane' ride to Elite 8
Ben McCollum won big at Division II, and in his one year at Drake. Now at Iowa, he has Hawkeyes in Elite 8. “In 20 years it will be an insane story.
"
HOUSTON — Three minutes into Iowa’s Sweet 16 game against Nebraska on Thursday night, a casualty occurred on the Hawkeyes’ sideline. Iowa coach Ben McCollum, already red-cheeked and furious at his team’s passive start in a game they trailed by 10 points, snapped a dry erase marker into two pieces in the timeout huddle. Ink went everywhere.
“We called them into the huddle and just said very nicely, ‘I’d like you to play harder, guys,’ and that seemed to work,” McCollum quipped, before looking to his left where Hawkeyes guards Tate Sage and Bennett Stirtz sat trying and failing to contain their smiles. March Madness finds a Cinderella: Iowa basketball, the slipper is yours Sweet 16 scores, live updates: Highlights, March Madness predictions “Am I right? That how that went?
” McCollum asked his players. “Yes,” Sage and Stirtz replied, nodding dutifully. McCollum’s fiery disposition and ability to extract winning performances from his players have made Iowa’s first-year coach a fast-rising star in his profession.
Continue to the original source for the full article.