Indiana has not contended for a national championship since it was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and flamed out in the Sweet 16 back in 2013 and across Mike Woodson’s first three years as head coach, the Hoosiers have won just one NCAA Tournament game. Now, after a 72-59 second-round exit in the Big Ten Tournament, Indiana could find itself on the wrong side of the bubble, and Woodson’s tenure in Bloomington could be over (pending an NIT bid acceptance).
Woodson announced midseason that he would step down after the year, an underwhelming return to his alma mater coming to an amicable end. That has allowed Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson and the rest of the decision-makers in Bloomington plenty of time to sift through the potential candidates, and some of those candidates like former Indiana native and Michigan head coach Dusty May, to deny interest in the position.
With May and the program’s longtime dream candidate Brad Stevens happy in their current roles in Ann Arbor and Boston respectively, the Hoosiers have reportedly gotten creative and may be zeroing in on Drake’s Ben McCollum.
Drake coach Ben McCollum has emerged as one of the top candidates for the Indiana opening and has really impressed Indiana AD Scott Dolson, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2025
McCollum, 43, has led Drake to the Missouri Valley regular-season and tournament titles in his first season…
Drake head coach Ben McCollum a top candidate for Indiana job
In his first year at Drake, McCollum has led the Bulldogs to a 30-3 record, Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, and a bid into the big dance. McCollum’s Divison 1 coaching career could not have gotten off to a better start, but the fact that this season was the start to his D1 coaching career, makes him a high-risk hire for a blue blood program.
Despite the Hoosier’s failure to effectively replace Bobby Knight and inability to replicate his success, from Tom Crean to Archie Miller to Woodson, and others before them, this is still a high-profile and highly sought-after job. Indiana has deep pockets, a rabid fanbase, and conference stability in the Big Ten, a rarity with so much realignment. Yet, that program, which has won five national championships and made eight final fours, is considering hiring a coach, who at this time last year, was leading Northwest Missouri State.
To his credit, McCollum had built Northwest Missouri State into a D2 powerhouse across his 15 seasons leading that program and has Drake poised for a Cinderella run through March Madness. There’s every reason to believe that he’ll be a successful Power Conference head coach at some point in his career, but to hand him to keys to a program with so much history and even more pressure, after one successful D1 season led by much of his D2 roster from 2023-24, would be a massive risk.