Ben McCollum, the Drake Bulldogs new head coach was the GOAT of Division II men’s college basketball. During his 15 year tenure at Northwest Missouri State, McCollum won four national championships, five Coach of the Year awards, nine other coaching awards and was inducted into Missouri’s Sports Hall of Fame- all while maintaining an 81.2 winning percentage at the university.
His most impressive achievement in Division II ball came in the 2018-19 season where the Bearcats went an astonishing 38-0 on the season, winning their first second championship under McCollum.
Now McCollum is fighting a different beast in Division I Basketball, but with a few familiar faces.
The Drake Bulldogs Are On A Historical Pace
When Drake first hired their new head coach last April, they certainly did not expect Ben to bring his former players with him but at this point in the season, they’ve got to be glad that he did. The Drake Bulldogs have the best record in the ENTIRE NATION at 22-2 and the players McCollum brought over are exceling against the harder competition.
In an interview with NABC, McCollum spoke on his decision saying, “It really helps with the culture. It helps the other guys, teaching them the winning way allows us to have success early.”
The Hall of Fame coach also mentioned that the four players he brought over(Bennet Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, Mitch Mascari and Isaiah Jackson) all caught his eye enough to ask them to come with.
The move was risky but it’s paid off so far. Drake is on pace to finish with their best record EVER, which has only been done by a couple coaches in college basketball history.
But there’s a catch…
The Drake Bulldogs reside in the Missouri Valley Conference, one of the weaker conferences in all of college basketball. Because of this, Drake’s success is not as newsworthy and the Bulldogs are still on the brink of the March Madness cutoff. But nonetheless, only losing two out of 24 games is no easy feat no matter the competition.
If the Bulldogs don’t win every game left in the season, their postseason hopes would be uncertain to say the least.
However, every conference winner gets an automatic bid to March Madness. If Drake could win the MVC tournament at the end of the regular season, they could skip all the worry and secure a spot in the top 68 teams.
Their biggest conference competition right now is Northern Iowa and Bradley, who the Drake Bulldogs have both beaten earlier this season.
Drake’s Superstar Bennett Stirtz
You don’t hear a lot about Bennett Stirtz in sports media but this guy is a certified baller. Bennett is one of the four transfers from Northwest Missouri State and was one of the best Division II players while he was there. He won the DII Freshman of the Year award in 2023 and made Second-Team ALL-MIAA both years at NMSU.
Bennett Stirtz’s success has carried over at Drake. He scores 18.6 points a game which is top 50 in the nation. This is the first time ever a Division II transfer would lead their team in points, score 18 a game and take their team to the March Madness tournament in their first year in Division I.
Back at his old school the guard was known for reading the defense as a point guard and hitting threes but Bennett Stirtz has evolved his game even further at Drake. Now he scores the majority of his points inside the arc while shooting 50% and has improved his drive-to-score ability greatly since his sophomore year.
Stirtz has scored 30 points twice this season and 20+ in four straight games(twelve total).
Amazingly, he also leads the league in minutes per game at 38.5. Ben McCollum leaves him on the floor for extended minutes because of Bennet Stirtz’s ability on both sides of the ball. Stirtz averages 2.4 steals a game which 14th in the nation.
More people need to talk about this kid and this team; the Drake Bulldogs have been to three of the last four March Madness tournaments so that familiarity is there. If they continue to win at their current rate, Bennett Stirtz and his DII companions could be a scary matchup come March.
To Read More Basketball News
Follow Alexander Martin on Instagram @waddup.im.alex or reach out directly at [email protected].
Check out more Hardwood Heroics content at www.hardwoodheroics.com/author/alexmartin/.
2 Comments
The MVC is not “one of the weaker conferences in all of college basketball”. Most years, it ranks somewhere around 10th out of 30+ conferences. And, I guarantee Drake knew he would bring some of his guys when they hired him
Thanks for the comment! Sounds like you might have attended Drake University… stay tuned for my March Madness X-Factor series about them.