Drake’s Ben McCollum speaks on changing coaching jobs ... or not changing them

If you’re listening to scuttlebutt regarding the open Iowa men’s basketball coaching job, you’ve surely heard the name of Drake Coach Ben McCollum prominently mentioned.

With a team that’s 31-3 and playing in Saturday’s second round of the NCAA tournament against Texas Tech, the 43-year-old McCollum and his team are one of the great early stories of the tourney.

At a press conference in Wichita, Kan., Friday, McCollum talked about why he went to Drake a year ago after 14 years at Northwest Missouri State, where he won four NCAA Division II national-championships and had a record of 394-91.

“There’s a variety of factors that go into coaching searches that probably most people don’t totally realize. Part of it is timing where if you are playing deep into the tournament and you want to focus on your team.

“So you have to create boundaries to make sure that you focus on the team that you are coaching, so you don't have a completely divided heart. That's the way I've chosen to do it. I don't think everybody probably chooses that same path. It's just what works for me is I have to have boundaries. I have to focus on my team and the school that I'm coaching for.

“So that's part of it. The other part of that is sometimes for me I just get a gut feel, and sometimes the feel isn't right, so you just don't take that opportunity.

“Why this one? Timing was perfect. I love the athletic director, Brian Hardin. He's fantastic. Their administration is great. Earl Martin is fantastic as a president. It is close to home as well. Especially for your first move because you do have to take into account that you are moving your family, too.

“When you do that and maybe you take a low major on the East Coast or something like that and it's a culture shock and on top of it it's going to be a difficult transition to be able to win games right away, there's a lot of factors in there that you have to think about,. It makes it tricky to move positions often for a guy like me.

“That's not for everybody, though. Some people are on the fast track, and they just want to move. It helps their ego, and I'm the higher-level coach, blah, blah, blah. I don't really need an ego boost in regards to that.”

If Drake wins Saturday, McCollum’s focus will be on Drake for another week as it goes to San Francisco for the Sweet 16. If the Bulldogs lose? We’ll see.