Hear from head coach Ben McCollum during Drake men’s basketball media day
Drake men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum discusses some of the players on the Bulldogs roster for the 2024-25 season.
Everything is coming together for Drake men’s basketball.
The roster is complete, the coaching staff is in place and the schedule – conference and nonconference – is set.
In just over two weeks, on Nov. 4, the Bulldogs will open the season against York University and new head coach Ben McCollum will make his debut at the Knapp Center. Drake’s schedule features 10 nonconference games, including matchups with Miami and Kansas State.
Here are three takeaways from the Bulldogs’ media day Wednesday.
Starting lineup not set in stone for Drake basketball
For the first time in quite a few years, Drake’s starting lineup is relatively unknown.
Sure, Nate Ferguson is back for his final season in a Bulldogs jersey, and McCollum brought four Northwest Missouri State players with him to Des Moines, but every successful team needs more than five players.
McCollum noted that he was impressed by Ferguson and Andrew Alia’s ability to transition to a new system. He also spoke about what he saw from freshman Isaia Howard in the summer and fall. Here is what he shared about his potential starting lineup.
“Right now, our practices are very, very competitive,” McCollum said. “I would say all of them are right there. Some of the guys that came with us from Northwest, Bennett Stirtz had a really good summer and preseason up to this point.
“I try not to highlight too many individuals. I guess that’s part of my deal because we don’t really have our lineup set up to this point. But everybody that’s come in has been great for us.”
Bulldogs projected to finish fifth in the MVC, McCollum eyes top spot
Drake men’s basketball was picked to finish fifth – behind Bradley, UNI, Murray State and Illinois State – in the Missouri Valley Conference’s preseason poll.
That result isn’t overly concerning to McCollum, who doesn’t put much stock into preseason predictions. He shared that his objective with any team is to try and finish first, even if the end result differs from that initial goal.
“Ultimately…preseason polls don’t matter,” McCollum said. “It’s the first time that a team that we’ve coached has not been picked first in 10 or 11 years. I don’t think you ever necessarily want to be picked fifth, but you want to try your best to finish first at the end of the season.”
What McCollum learned from scrimmage against Texas Tech
The Bulldogs competed in a not-so-secret scrimmage over the weekend, facing off against Texas Tech – where former Drake player Kevin Overton now plays. Drake lost the no-stakes game by less than 10 points.
It was a trip that not only allowed for some team bonding but showed McCollum and the rest of the staff that their squad is where they want it to be right now.
“I think it was good for our guys to compete against a Power 5 and see that they could compete with some of the better teams in the country,” McCollum said. “It’s just a lot of little things that you’re trying to improve. But the biggest takeaway was (that) we can compete.
“It does matter that we’ve had guys that have played together for a lot of years, that makes a difference. And it helps the transfers acclimate a little quicker to what we want to do from an offensive and defensive perspective, and that showed that.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
