Northwest Missouri State coach Ben McCollum considered 'top target' at Missouri State

Championship-winning Northwest Missouri State men's basketball coach Ben McCollum is the hot name most connected with Missouri State's head coach vacancy.

Missouri State fired Dana Ford on Sunday morning after six seasons.

McCollum's name has been connected to Missouri State for over a year, dating back to when it was speculated that Ford could have been relieved after five seasons. When Missouri State hired former Northwest Missouri State president John Jasinski as provost, it was believed the relationship could eventually land McCollum in Springfield.

The McCollum connection has intensified in recent weeks. When Ford was considered on the hot seat, ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello wrote to expect McCollum to "get a long look" at MSU if it was to make a coaching change. When respected national college basketball insider Jeff Goodman broke the news of Ford's firing on Sunday morning, he added to expect McCollum to be in the mix to replace him.

Borzello followed on Sunday, citing sources, writing that McCollum is "expected to be among the top targets."

More: Who will replace Dana Ford as Missouri State basketball coach? Start with these 11 candidates.

McCollum has been the fan-favorite for the job in recent weeks. Many will point to Indiana State's success under Josh Schertz as a reason to believe hiring a successful Division II coach would work.

Schertz, who led Indiana State to a regular season Missouri Valley Conference championship and could potentially be NCAA Tournament-bound as an at large, coached for 13 years at Division II Lincoln Memorial University where he was 337-69 with 10 NCAA Division II NCAA Tournament appearances and five seasons of 30 or more victories.

Against Schertz? McCollum is 2-0 including a 12-point victory in the 2017 national semifinal before the Bearcats went on to win their first of four national championships under the head coach.

It is worth noting that Schertz was announced as the next head coach at Indiana State before he was done coaching his final team at Lincoln Memorial.

More: Dana Ford promised Missouri State basketball championships. He never delivered.

Ben McCollum has built Northwest Missouri State into a Division II powerhouse

Since being hired before the 2009-10 season, McCollum has a career record of 392-90. The Bearcats won their eighth Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament on Sunday under the head coach following their 11th consecutive regular season title, giving him 12 in Maryville.

McCollum is the first five-time NABC Division II Coach of the Year, his latest coming in 2022.

Before the MIAA tournament, McCollum was voted as the league's coach of the year for the ninth time.

More: Missouri State basketball fires Dana Ford after six years

Heading into the 2024 NCAA Division II Tournament, which begins Saturday with Northwest as a two-seed playing in Mankato, Minnesota, McCollum owns a 30-6 NCAA Tournament record.

The Bearcats are currently ranked No. 4 in the country with one first-place vote. They are in the same region as No. 2 Minnesota State. The two could meet in the quarterfinals and regional championship next week.

Northwest won national championships under McCollum in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

How do Ben McCollum's teams rank offensively and defensively?

Entering this year's Division II NCAA Tournament, McCollum's defense ranks second in the nation, allowing just under 60 points per game. The Bearcats have the seventh-best scoring margin in Division II, beating teams by 14.2 points per game.

Northwest defenses by year? They've ranked top 10 in scoring defense every year since 2015-16 and have been first in Division II twice over the span.

• 2023-24 — 2nd (59.9 ppg)

• 2022-23 — 1st (56.3 ppg)

• 2021-22 — 4th (61.5 ppg)

• 2020-21 — 9th (65.2 ppg)

• 2019-20 — 4th (62.6 ppg)

• 2018-19 — 3rd (61.7 ppg)

• 2017-18 — 1st (59.8 ppg)

• 2016-17 — 2nd (62.2 ppg)

• 2015-16 — 4th (64.8 ppg)

• 2014-15 — 19th (63.8 ppg)

• 2013-14 — 45th (68.5 ppg)

• 2012-13 — 11th (61 ppg)

• 2011-12 — 21st (62.6 ppg)

• 2010-11 — 87th (68.8 ppg)

The Athletic wrote a piece on McCollum in 2021 calling him "the best coach you've probably never heard of." It broke down his defenses and how they turn into offense. McCollum said he's a student of EuroLeague basketball, which doesn't have illegal defenses, unlike the NBA.

High-level defense turns into one of the more efficient offenses in the nation. The article points to the efficiency of McCollum's offenses, with the 2019-20 team being the most efficient offense in the 16 years prior among college basketball at all levels. The article said McCollum's offense that season, analytically, had a more efficient offense than Villanova's national championship 2017-18 team.

Efficiency makes up for what could look like an average offense if you only look at how many points they're scoring per game. Since 2010, the Bearcats average a finish of 130 in offensive scoring with their best season coming in 2020-21 when they finished 21st in Division II with 82.8 points per game.

What do others say about Ben McCollum?

McCollum's biography on Northwest's website sites multiple Division I head coaches complimenting McCollum.

“He really, really understands culture and what goes into winning from a people standpoint,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “Then he’s a great coach on both ends of the floor. And like the way that they play, you can tell he teaches guys and helps guys grow in how to play as opposed to little parts of the offense or parts of the defense. He teaches them to understand how to put it all together.”

“I coach Division I basketball, and I promise you they were a top-100 team in the country (last season),” Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff added. “How they play, what they do, it’s high-level basketball — their skill level, their feel, their player development, it’s really done in an admirable way.”

The aforementioned McCollum article by The Athletic mentioned Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams saying that McCollum was among the best X's and O's coaches he'd ever met.

Mark Adams, the former Texas Tech head coach who's now an assistant at East Carolina, added how impressive he thinks McCollum is.

"He’s doing some game-changing things with ball screens and their different angles," Adams said. "My son thinks he’ll be in the NBA someday.”

Why hasn't Ben McCollum been hired by someone else?

Even with his success, it is worth wondering why McCollum wasn't previously hired away from Northwest. He's in his 14th season on the Bearcats' sideline.

He was reportedly up for West Virginia's job following its sudden departure of Bob Huggins over the summer. An easy connection can be made to McCollum and WVU athletics director Wren Baker having worked together at Northwest from 2010-13 when Baker was in charge of Northwest's athletics department.

McCollum's name was also mentioned in Charlotte and Green Bay's openings a year ago but never materialized.

McCollum has been vocal about his desire to coach elsewhere at some point. In a November interview with college basketball reporter Andy Katz, he said he would leave Northwest "for the right opportunity."

"Eventually, if it's the right opportunity in the right area that allows you to win first place consistently, I think that would be something I'd consider," McCollum said. "It's not a chase to get to a certain level, necessarily. It's 'Can you make a difference at a higher level because your platform is bigger?' If that kind of opportunity comes along, I would take that opportunity. If it doesn't, I love the kids here and I love the place and I love Northwest Missouri State and I'm happy as well."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ben McCollum tied to Missouri State basketball head coach vacancy