Storm Lake Native Ben McCollum Earns Praise for Iowa Coaching Success

Ben McCollum was born in Iowa City and grew up in Storm Lake, where he graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1999. On March 24, 2025, the University of Iowa announced his hiring as the 23rd head coach of its men's basketball program. Back home in Buena Vista County, people who watched him grow up have been paying close attention ever since.

The Iowa men's basketball team has already delivered results in McCollum's first season, defeating top-seeded Florida 73-72 on a go-ahead three-pointer with four seconds remaining to advance to the program's first Sweet 16 since 1999. The run began months after a group of his former classmates made the drive to Iowa City to cheer him on in person.

During Iowa's game against UCLA on Jan. 3, fans in section EE at Carver-Hawkeye Arena wore matching T-shirts bearing the words "Storm Lake St. Mary's," "Coach McCollum fan club," and "Go Hawks!" alongside a photo of McCollum as a teenager in his Storm Lake St. Mary's basketball uniform. Multiple members of his 1999 graduating class attended, including Amy Roux. Ryan Berg, who coached McCollum in high school baseball, also posed for a photo at the arena that day.

Berg remembered a pitcher who kept hitters off-balance rather than overpowering them. "He pitched for us and was kind of that curveball specialist," Berg said. "He didn't blow it by you by any means, but he kept you off balance constantly of not knowing if it was going to be a fastball or curveball. His curveball broke really well. It was kind of almost like a 12-6, slow, looping curveball that people just had a tough time hitting."

That competitive instinct carried into the gym. McCollum scored 1,181 points and dished out 345 assists during his high school basketball career at St. Mary's and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. One community member, identified as Skamser, described what stood out even then. "Even playing with one arm basically, he wanted to set a tone that he was going to do whatever it took to help the team in whatever way he could," Skamser said. "Every time I see five Hawkeyes out there, it's like five Bens out there, basically."

Family shaped much of what McCollum became. His mother, Mary Timko, raised McCollum and his brother Joe as a single mother for his first 11 years while simultaneously earning her bachelor's, master's, and law degrees from the University of Iowa. She later served as an associate juvenile judge for Iowa District 3, the district that serves 16 counties in northwest Iowa, including Buena Vista County. McCollum credits her directly for his drive. "She just kind of taught you, you're not a victim to your circumstances and to keep fighting, and she's elitely competitive," he said. His stepfather, Roger Timko, brought a different kind of discipline to the household: a 32-year career as a law enforcement investigator. The Timko family has remained in Storm Lake and followed McCollum's coaching journey closely.

His connection to the Hawkeyes predates the coaching staff. Iowa basketball's traveling summer camps, started by legendary coach Lute Olson in the 1970s, regularly stopped in Storm Lake, and McCollum would arrive as early as two hours before the start. He accepted the Iowa position just days after leading Drake to its first NCAA Tournament first-round victory since 1971 and a program-best 31 wins.

During his 15 years in Maryville, Missouri, McCollum posted a 395-91 record and earned five NABC Division II National Coach of the Year awards, the most for any single coach in Division II history. He also garnered three Clarence Gaines Awards, nine MIAA Coach of the Year honors, and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. He led the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats to four NCAA Division II national titles: 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022.

At his introductory press conference, McCollum invoked a name that carries deep meaning at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. "Have you ever seen Chris Street play?" he asked. "The intensity, the energy, the effort, the enthusiasm, the joy, the servant mentality, the toughness. Everything that Iowa stands for is what our team is going to look like." His program motto, "Impose Your Will," drawn from the tactical text The Art of War, frames the same idea in competitive terms. "It's just an attack mentality; [it] creates that level of urgency that we need," McCollum said.

In his first season in NCAA Division I, McCollum guided Drake to a school-record 31 wins, the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, and a run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His overall 16-year coaching record stands at 426-95, an .818 winning percentage that ranks fifth all-time among collegiate men's basketball coaches. For Storm Lake, that number is more than a statistic: it is the measure of a kid who used to show up two hours early to a summer basketball camp, and who is now the one running it.