NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM NAMED HOOPDIRT.COM DIVISION II COACH OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY THE HOOP GROUP

---

For Immediate Release
April 2, 2017

Northwest Missouri State Head Basketball Coach Ben McCollum has been named as the HoopDirt.com Division II Coach of the Year presented by The Hoop Group for the 2016-17 college basketball season. McCollum qualified for the award by being named as the HoopDirt.com/Hoop Group Coach of the Week for Week 2 of the season.

During the 2016-17 campaign, McCollum led the Bearcats to a 35-1 record on their way to capturing the NCAA DII National Championship. Northwest opened the season with a 24-game winning streak and finished the season with a perfect 18-0 record at home. The National Championship was the first-ever in program history, and the Bearcats 35 win set both the school and MIAA mark. McCollum was also awarded the MIAA Coach of the Year Award for the third straight season, and was recently honored as the NABC DII National Coach of the Year. On the court, Northwest was led by Justin Pitts who was named as the NABC DII National Player of the Year and the Basketball Times Player of the Year.

In his eight seasons as the head coach at Northwest Missouri, McCollum has compiled a 176-71 record which includes six straight 20+ win seasons, and four MIAA Coach of the Year Awards. The Bearcats have also won the last four MIAA regular season titles, and set a conference record with 28 straight league victories. A former player at Northwest, McCollum served as an assistant coach at Emporia State before returning to his alma mater as the head coach back in 2009.

---

HoopDirt.com/The Hoop Group weekly award winners:

Week 1:
NCAA DI: Tom Crean, Indiana
NCAA DII: Brian Beaury, College of Saint Rose
NCAA DIII: David Hixon, Amherst College
NAIA: Jeff Britt, Bethel College (TN)
JUCO: John Pigatti, South Suburban College (IL)

Week 2:
NCAA DI: Chris Holtmann, Butler
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State
NCAA DIII: Tom Slyder, Northpark
NAIA: Kevin Burton, Union College (KY)
JUCO: Martin McCann, Palm Beach State

Week 3:
NCAA DI: Scott Drew, Baylor
NCAA DII: Kyle Tolin, Arknasas Monticello
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose, Illinois Wesleyan
NAIA: Craig Doty, Graceland College
JUCO: Steven DeMeo, Northwest Florida State

Week 4:
NCAA DI: Roy Williams, University of North Carolina
NCAA DII: Jerrod Calhoun, Fairmont State University
NCAA DIII: Luke Flockerzi, University of Rochester
NAIA: Kim Elders, Cornerstone University
JUCO: Patrick Smith, Moberly Area Community College

Week 5:
NCAA DI: Steve Forbes, East Tennessee State
NCAA DII: Rodney Watson, University of Southern Indiana
NCAA DIII: Charlie Brock, Springfield College
NAIA: Rollie Massimino, Keiser University
JUCO: Luke Strege, Mineral Area College

Week 6:
NCAA DI: Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech
NCAA DII: Paul Trevor, San Francisco State
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland, Whitman College
NAIA: Jeff Rutter, Arizona Christian
JUCO: David Archer, Jr., Chattahoochee Tech

Week 7:
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
NCAA DII: Jamie Stevens, Montana State Billings
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards, Washington University (St. Louis)
NAIA: Kelly Wells, University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Steve Green, South Plains College (TX)

Week 8:
NCAA DI: Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s
NCAA DII: Nelson Haggerty, Midwestern State (TX)
NCAA DIII: Chris Martin, Loras College (IA)
NAIA: Larry Cordaro, LSU Alexandria
JUCO: Todd Lorensen, Southwestern CC (IA)

Week 9:
NCAA DI: Kevin Keatts, UNC Wilmington
NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack, Fort Lewis College (CO)
NCAA DIII: Bob Ghiloni, Denison University (OH)
NAIA: Tony Ingle, Dalton State (GA)
JUCO: Charlie Wilson, Indian River State College (FL)

Week 10:
NCAA DI: Chris Collins, Northwestern University
NCAA DII: Chris Fife, Shippensburg University (PA)
NCAA DIII: Ken Scalmanini, Claremont Mudd Scripps (CA)
NAIA: Sean Hanrahan, Warner University (FL)
JUCO: Matt Ridge, Davidson County CC (NC)

Week 11:
NCAA DI: Josh Pastner, Georgia Tech
NCAA DII: TJ Dekmar, Goldey-Beacom College (DE)
NCAA DIII: John Krikorian, Christopher Newport University (VA)
NAIA: Justin Wetzel, Dickinson State University (ND)
JUCO: Chuck Moore, Richard Bland College (VA)

Week 12:
NCAA DI: Donyell Marshall, Central Connecticut State
NCAA DII: Joe Gallo, Merrimack College (MA)
NCAA DIII: Stephen Brennan, Babson College (MA)
NAIA: Ryan Wall, Our Lady of the Lake University (TX)
JUCO: Hank Plona, Indian Hills Community College (Iowa)

Week 13:
NCAA DI: Dave Wojcik, San Jose State University
NCAA DII: Lonn Reisman, Tartelton State
NCAA DIII: Chuck McBreen, Ramapo College (NJ)
NAIA: Bill Dreikosen, Rocky Mountain College (MT)
JUCO: Josh Mills, Ranger College (TX)

Week 14:
NCAA DI: Mick Cronin, University of Cincinnati
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer, Valdosta State (GA)
NCAA DIII: Mark Seidenburg, Delaware Valley University (PA)
NAIA: Stan Holt, Langston University (OK)
JUCO: Scott Schumacher, Blinn College (TX)

Week 15:
NCAA DI: Dave Rose, BYU
NCAA DII: Jeff Burkhamer, University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson, MIT
NAIA: John Henry, William Penn University (IA)
JUCO: Ryan Ridder, Dayton State College (FL)

---