McCollum reflects upon the hometown that shaped him

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
With a storied 16-year career of coaching men’s basketball at the collegiate level, Storm Lake native Ben McCollum was hired last April as the 23^rd head men’s basketball coach for the University of Iowa.
 
He had a record of 426-95 – the “fifth best all-time among collegiate men’s basketball coaches,” according to the University of Iowa sports website. McCollum garnered numerous awards in his years coaching including NABC Division II coach of the year in 2017, 2019-22 and four NCAA Division II championships coaching Northwest Missouri State University.
 
Despite the spotlight, the new University of Iowa coach stays grounded thanks to his upbringing, Catholic school experience and the support of his hometown.
 
Early years
The 1999 Storm Lake St. Mary’s graduate said his mother, Mary Timko and stepfather, Roger (deceased), faithful members of St. Mary Parish and hard workers, provided good examples for the family. His mother is a retired juvenile court judge and Roger worked with the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Division of Criminal Investigation.
 
“You just choose that same path because it’s modeled for you,” he said.
 
Mary moved from Iowa City to Storm Lake in 1988 with sons Ben and Joe. McCollum was enrolled at St. Mary’s School as a second grade student, where he and Joe and later sister Mary Rose Timko (Ivey), attended through graduation. He said the influence of the Catholic school and the teachers had a positive effect upon him in his formative years.
 Photo credit: Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com“Growing up in a Catholic school environment, it helps share your moral compass. More than anything else, it helps guide you down the right path and allows you to choose that – it becomes the popular choice,” he said. “I think it becomes a little bit easier to make the right choices consistently with that guidance you received at those schools.”
 
McCollum’s childhood coaches also helped shape the future Division I coach, he said, noting he felt very fortunate to learn from them. He shared that being an athlete under the guidance of former St. Mary’s principal and coach Ryan Berg provided a higher level of the sports experience for him.
 
“He was the first (coach) to really be so detailed. All of his attention to detail and how he took care of the (baseball field), how he handled practice, how he structured practice and how he coached you. It was consistent and business-like and obviously from a teaching perspective as well,” McCollum explained.
 
Berg, who now serves the school as director of development and alumni outreach from his home in Bettendorf, has followed McCollum’s career since his high school graduation. He often traveled out of state to games and tournaments to cheer on his former student and athlete. The two remained in contact with one another.
 
“One of the greatest joys for teachers and coaches is seeing their students/athletes go on to be successful adults in whatever they do. So, I enjoy supporting Ben and traveling to games whenever I can,” Berg said. “Coaching a team to the national championship multiple times is an amazing feat, so I was willing to travel to support him on those special occasions.”
 
Hometown support 
The Storm Lake community and the St. Mary Parish and School community have also supported McCollum throughout his career – starting with his years donning a St. Mary panther uniform for different sports.
 
“What makes Iowa, specifically Iowa small towns, special is the amount of support and the amount of excitement that people can get from somebody else’s success,” the coach said. “I think that’s what makes it fun … anything in life that’s fun is a lot more fun if you share it. So being able to share in that is a pretty neat deal just being here at Iowa.”
 
From a talented student athlete to a Big 10 basketball coach, McCollum said he always realized there’s responsibility that comes with the public attention.
 
“Once you have some kind of spotlight on you. People are always watching and you have to make sure that you’re a good example and understand that you’ve been blessed and don’t take that for granted. Understand that you’re there with those gifts to serve and to use those for everybody else,” he stressed. “I’ve always tried to keep that clear in my mind that you know all your gifts can go away pretty quickly.”
 
As the new high-profile coaching position in Iowa City has McCollum even more in the public eye than previously, he isn’t concerned about negative comments that may be directed at him.
 
“I think once you get a sense of confidence in what you’re doing, a lot of times, the outside noise, you don’t really hear it,” he pointed out. “As you’re making the right choices consistently, the results take care of themselves. You can’t really worry about outside expectations.”
 McCollum said he is looking forward to introducing his athletes to the state of Iowa. Credit: Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.comThe McCollum family has moved to eastern Iowa; the athletes are now on the Iowa City campus and Coach McCollum is excited for his first season leading the Hawkeye men’s basketball team.
 
He said he is most excited about working with the athletes and “sharing those kids with the state of Iowa and Iowa City.”
 
“Showing off the kids that we recruited and what great people they are - that’s what you get excited about,” he said. “You get excited about the games to a certain level but it’s still more about the relationships with those kids and what they can do for the communities.”

Cover photo credit: Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com

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