Head Coach and former NIACC player
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA – A former NIACC basketball player has coached his Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team to a National Title today.
The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats captured the 2017 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship Saturday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They beat Fairmont State 71-61 and finished the season with a nearly-perfect 36-1 record.
The Bearcats were led by head coach Ben McCollum, a native of Storm Lake, Iowa. McCollum began his college career at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa, where he played from 1999-2001. He was a two-time all-region performer before transferring to Northwest.
McCollum was named head coach prior to the 2009-10 season. He was the 2012 Clarence “Big House” Gaines National Coach of the Year.
National Champions! #oabaab pic.twitter.com/y8YDLzzq2z
— Northwest Athletics (@bearcatsports) March 25, 2017
