The Bulldogs of Drake University have had coaching issues dating back to 1970, when historical coach Maury John left for Iowa State after leading Drake to three straight ‘Elite 8’ appearances and one ‘Final 4’. Now in more recent history, Drake has back-to-back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference championships and March Madness appearances. That is a historical run for a mid-major school in a mid-major conference. Drake has become known around the college basketball world recently for the decisions their coaches have made. These coaches have used Drake as a stepping stone to go coach at a higher level of college basketball. The last three Head Coaches of the Drake Bulldogs have moved onto coaching in the BIG 10 and BIG 12. As well as two other coaches in the early-mid 2000’s left to go coach bigger programs in bigger conferences.
The lesser known coach to make this move was coach Kurt Kanaskie. Kanaskie left his six year career at Drake in 2003 to become an assistant at Penn State. Although both teams he was apart of were not very sound, it is a big leap from the MVC to the BIG 10.
The next coach that moved up in the basketball world was one and done at Drake, coach Keno Davis who coached the 2007-2008 Drake team. This team won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and then post season tournament. Drake was given a five seed in March Madness which is the highest seed they have ever been. Although they lost first round, it was still a memorable year having a 28-5 season when the year before Drake was only a couple games above 500 at 17-15. That big of A turn around turned heads in the BIG East, which is a very powerful college basketball confidence. Keno ended up going to Providence University, a school who was in the ‘Final 4’ just a few years prior. Now Davis works in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers serving as the Collegiate Scouting Consultant.
The third coach to make a leap was our second one and done on this list, being coach Niko Medved. Medved was at Drake for the 2017-2018 season. Although Drake did not win the MVC or make March Madness, Medved turned the program around in just one season. Just one year Drake was last in the MVC, with a 7-24 record and firing their coach mid way through the year. Medved then turned around the program and got the Bulldogs to a 17-17 record bolstering their win percentage .210 points from the year before.
Fourth and foremost coach Darren DeVries. Coach DeVries left Drake after their 2023-2024 season where they made the postseason March Madness tournament. DeVries spent six seasons with the Bulldogs starting in the 2018-2019 season. DeVries did not have a season under 20 wins and finished with a total record of 127 Wins and 55 losses. This overall record gave him a career win percentage just short of .700. Although DeVries had no March Madness wins, the three appearances during his tenure were good enough to turn the heads of West Virginia University. DeVries left for West Virginia and took his son Tucker DeVries with him. Tucker DeVries was the conference MVP in 2024 leading Drake in points, minutes and assists before following his dad to the BIG 12.
Last, and the most recent is coach is Ben McCollum. McCollum spent not even a full 12 months with the bulldogs coaching them for the 2024-2025 season. Drake originally hired the four time DII champion head coach on April 1st, 2024 where he led Drake to the 2nd round of March Madness upsetting 7 seed Missouri as a 10 seed. Drake made it to the madness following their first 30 win season at 31-4 winning the MVC regular season and then winning the conference tournament. McCollum’s leading scorer Bennett Stirtz became a household name throughout college basketball fans leading Drake averages in points, minutes, and assists while being 3rd in rebounds per game. McCollum’s partnership with Stirtz had success at multiple levels of college basketball and turned the heads at the University of Iowa. On March 24th, 2025 McCollum left for the University of Iowa with star point guard Bennett Stirtz. Following right behind him announcing just a day later, that he will test the NBA market and if no pro opportunities arise he will transfer to Iowa.
Wahawk Thoughts
West High Junior and Iowa Basketball fan Jake Bennett was reflected on the question of “How will Ben McCollum and Bennett Stirtz make an impact for Iowa basketball?” Bennett replied with “Ben McCollum is a stud coach who has a great understanding for basketball. I think McCollum will bring a lot of hype and will have a lot of expectations that he will be able to meet with his IQ of the game. Ben McCollum will bring an atmosphere that Carver-Hawkeye Arena has not had in a while. Bringing Stirtz with him will be beneficial to creating chemistry in the program due to all the players that left via transfer portal and graduation.”
West High Junior and College Basketball fan Lane Carlson was asked “How can Drake keep success in the transfer portal era of college basketball?” Carlson answered with “Drake can keep success if they can find a coach that will appreciate the community in Des Moines. We can see schools like Northern Iowa who have maintained success over the last 20 years with Ben Jacobson staying in the community since 2006 instead of leaving for a bigger school like Texas A&M when they wanted him.”
