KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Drake head coach Ben McCollum paced within the coaches’ locker room earlier than speed-walking in to deal with his workforce.
His assistants had instructed him the gamers have been a bit quiet throughout warmups for the Wildcat Basic, a mid-December sport towards Kansas State in downtown Kansas Metropolis. Star level guard Bennett Stirtz attended the occasion they have been about to play in as a fan a yr in the past. Isaiah Jackson, whose childhood house is quarter-hour from T-Cellular Middle, had watched many video games within the constructing however by no means stepped on the ground. When he walked via the tunnel for the primary time, he took out his telephone and captured the second, then FaceTimed his mother and father after apply so they may see.
Stirtz and Jackson are two of the 4 starters who adopted McCollum from Division II Northwest Missouri State when he was employed by Drake this offseason. They’d performed in massive video games, however no setting like this. So McCollum determined to recycle a speech he’d given earlier than the 2021 Division II nationwide title sport when he’d had the same feeling.
“It’s all the time fascinating in these sorts of environments, what some folks can do and what some folks fairly frankly can’t do, that they will do in an everyday setting,” McCollum mentioned.
He instructed his gamers to think about there was a stability beam on the ground — 4 inches extensive, 5 meters lengthy. May they stroll throughout it? “Hell yeah you’ll be able to,” he mentioned.
Now increase it 10 ft within the air. It’s possible you’ll suppose twice, however most might nonetheless make it.
Now what if it was 150 ft within the air?
“The identical stability beam that you simply simply instructed me you could possibly stroll throughout when it was on the bottom as a result of there was no repercussions to it, abruptly it lifts a bit bit and you may’t stroll throughout it anymore? Why?” McCollum requested. “Since you misplaced the power to stroll? No. You’ll be able to nonetheless do this. Since you’re distracted by all the things else round you.”
McCollum’s level: Block it out — the gang, the noise — and simply put one foot in entrance of the opposite.
A number of hours later, the Bulldogs sprinted again into that locker room, knocking off a Massive 12 workforce on a shot by Stirtz with 3.4 seconds left in extra time.
Drake opened 2025 as one of many ultimate 4 undefeated groups in Division I, taking part in with a confidence strengthened by the outcomes its leaders introduced from the D-II ranks. The Bulldogs confronted their first setback Wednesday, dropping their Missouri Valley Convention highway opener 74-70 to UIC, however they’re off to a 12-1 begin that nobody noticed coming, with three wins over high-major applications.
“They give the impression of being good on movie, however once you watch them in individual, they’re even higher,” mentioned Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, who referred to as McCollum after Drake beat Vandy in November to ask if he’d get on a Zoom and speak via how he did it. “And what they’re higher at in individual is a few particulars that you simply won’t catch by watching movie. After which once you see them in individual, they hit each single element.”
In 15 seasons at Northwest Missouri State, McCollum gained 12 regular-season convention titles and 4 nationwide titles. Lengthy earlier than he was teaching at their degree, Division I coaches would point out that they’d been finding out Northwest Missouri State’s offense. They anticipated McCollum to achieve D-I, however not this a lot and this quick.
In the meantime, McCollum’s gamers anticipate to win as a result of they know McCollum goes to place them in the correct locations and all the time know precisely what to say.
“They’re a well-tuned machine,” Byington mentioned. “I shook his hand after our sport and instructed him this group could make a deep run within the (NCAA) Event. Not simply win a sport; they will make a run.”
McCollum gained 4 D-II nationwide championships at Northwest Missouri State, together with three in a row. (Cody Scanlan / The Register / USA As we speak Community through Imagn Photos)
Why did it take so lengthy for McCollum to get a Division I job?
“I’m a gradual set off by nature,” McCollum mentioned, “as a result of I consider each determination fairly a bit.”
In the previous couple of years, McCollum was within the combine for a number of low- and mid-major openings, however he was all the time hesitant to maneuver his household. Drake was a job he’d all the time eyed — he’s initially from Iowa, and it’s a program with a profitable historical past in a robust league — however it nonetheless took him 5 days to simply accept after it was provided. “We had a superb setup,” McCollum mentioned. “And, you realize, your tradition doesn’t essentially journey.”
That wasn’t essentially true, as a result of all it took to get three of his returning starters to go along with him was one go to every to his workplace. If he have been to go, would they arrive alongside? Stirtz, Jackson and Daniel Abreu mentioned sure instantly.
Stirtz and Jackson each wished their shot at D-I, too. That they had the identical two presents out of highschool: William Jewell Faculty and Northwest Missouri State.
Abreu, who did have two D-I presents in highschool (Abilene Christian and Jacksonville), was prepared for a problem. “I used to be becoming bored of the scouts after yr two, taking part in the identical groups again and again,” Abreu mentioned. “I can’t consider (McCollum) did it for that lengthy.”
These three yeses acquired McCollum off to a head begin constructing the lineup he wanted. Stirtz is the purpose guard who can perform a little of all the things; Jackson is the distributor and lockdown defender; the 6-6 Abreu performs with a physicality that permits him to protect up. McCollum had an enormous on the way in which in Cam Manyawu, a Wyoming switch who adopted assistant Bryston Williams to Drake.
The ultimate piece wanted was a shooter. McCollum had one at Northwest Missouri State however thought he was completed taking part in. Mitch Mascari had his MBA after 5 years in Maryville and had accepted a job as a credit score analyst in asset administration at First Belief Portfolios in Wheaton, In poor health. He was supposed to start out in two weeks, however after McCollum accepted the Drake job, Mascari began considering possibly he too wished his shot at D-I and put his identify within the switch portal on the ultimate day it was open. McCollum referred to as him straight away, and Mascari requested McCollum what he thought he ought to do.
“Naturally, once you coach someone for 5 years, you construct up a degree of belief and no matter most likely opinion that I’d have given him, he most likely would have accomplished it and listened,” McCollum mentioned. “And so I couldn’t give him my opinion. I might simply give him the positives and negatives of each. After which it was finally his determination to make and he selected to return and play.”
The one starter McCollum couldn’t carry with him was Wes Dreamer, the convention participant of the yr who’s now the main scorer for an expert workforce in Germany. That meant McCollum needed to do extra educating than his former Bearcats had witnessed earlier than, and he needed to rethink the workforce’s type of play.
Making this sizzling begin much more unlikely is the likelihood that McCollum could have as little depth as he’s ever had. Mascari has performed each minute in 5 of the 13 video games. Stirtz has come off the ground twice within the 11 video games towards D-I opponents — each within the ultimate minute of snug wins over Stephen F. Austin and Belmont.
The offense is constructed round getting Mascari 3s and Stirtz a niche to drive, with Abreu making the occasional 3 and all the time on the lookout for openings to chop. Whichever massive is on the ground is a curler/cutter, and Jackson distributes whereas additionally offering well timed drives or cuts to the basket. The previous Bearcats have present in D-I that typically it takes extra time to discover a high quality look, however they’ll exhaust each alternative to get an ideal shot.
“We have now to maneuver it,” McCollum mentioned. “All 5 guys have to attach to have the ability to create home windows and avenues, to have the ability to get to the paint and get beneath the protection. We’ve needed to spend money on 5 – 6 alternative ways, the place it’s identical to in the event that they guard this, then we’ve to go to this and this and that.”
Jackson says the distinction between Division II and Division I is that these massive colleges play at a faster tempo and take “early, common pictures.” McCollum has all the time believed that to beat good groups, you’re going to have to attain towards a set protection.
“We play a slower tempo as a result of we don’t take dangerous pictures, and we gained’t take dangerous pictures,” McCollum mentioned. “We refuse to take them. And so it naturally slows the sport down.”
McCollum’s gamers all the time really feel like they’ve the solutions to the check, and the coach has all the time been keen to scrap plans if the opponent throws a curveball. The offense is sort of a determination tree.
“Numerous our offense relies on how the protection reacts,” Mascari mentioned. “So if a protection is reacting another way than we anticipated, we’re simply going to do one thing else. Typically we’re strolling down the ground, and we don’t know what we’re about to do. So how is the protection imagined to?”
Drake could lead the nation in shot clock violations, which is a part of the explanation Drake is popping the ball over at one of many worst charges in school basketball — 20.5 p.c of its possessions towards D-I competitors. The Bulldogs would fairly run out the clock than take a mediocre shot, they usually keep composed when the seconds tick away late in a possession. In opposition to Vandy, they’d three shot clock violations. “That by no means fazed them,” Byington mentioned, noting Drake additionally made three late-clock 3s.
Defensively, the Bulldogs appear to hardly ever ever make a mistake, and McCollum is meticulous in demonstrating how you can guard each motion they’ll see, from the footwork to physique place to the place to be on the ground. He provides his gamers simple cues to recollect.
“It’s not likely what you realize,” McCollum mentioned. “It’s what they will comprehend after which execute.”
This can be essentially the most spectacular stat for Drake this season: With out one participant taller than 6-8 within the rotation, Drake ranks fifteenth nationally in defensive rebounding fee and seventeenth in offensive rebounding fee. After getting out-rebounded by Stephen F. Austin in its first sport towards a Division I opponent, the Bulldogs have gained the battle of the boards each sport since. That side of this begin astonishes even McCollum.
“They’re simply destroying folks on the boards,” McCollum mentioned. “Defensive rebounding, we’ve all the time been No. 1 within the nation (in Division II). Offensive rebounding, we’ve simply been bodily. We simply go get the ball. Little chip on our shoulder.”
Three years in the past Northwest Missouri State entered the season because the defending nationwide champs with 4 starters returning. The Bearcats had gone 97-3 the earlier three seasons. It was star guard Trevor Hudgins’ senior season.
And McCollum wished them to fail.
Each preseason he places his workforce via an exhausting conditioning check. Each participant has to run 20 line drills and 20 down-and-backs in 20 minutes. It’s a must to do each in one-minute home windows and might’t begin once more till the start of every minute. For those who don’t go, you strive once more the subsequent day. Earlier than the check three years in the past, the Bearcats had a tough carry — squats and resistance bands. They have been being set as much as fail. “Our legs have been accomplished,” Jackson mentioned.
Jackson was the one participant who made time, however McCollum nonetheless made him run the subsequent day with all of his teammates as a result of he wished to see all of them go it collectively.
“They should train themselves to reply,” McCollum mentioned. “You don’t simply reply to failure effectively. You’ve acquired to develop that behavior via failing after which determining the response to it.”
In opposition to Ok-State, Drake discovered failure. After main 29-9 early, Ok-State began to chip away late within the first half, happening a 14-2 run. “That crowd popped,” Stirtz leaned over to inform Mascari at halftime.
Mascari had been on hearth, making all six of his 3s within the first half. However Ok-State largely took him away within the second half, face-guarding him and Stirtz. Halfway via the half, Ok-State sharpshooter Brendan Hausen acquired a clear search for the primary time and buried it to tie the sport. It felt like Ok-State was in management, with Drake trying drained and hopeless within the half court docket.
With 23.9 seconds left, Abreu went to the free-throw line, the Bulldogs’ first loss looming if he missed. In the course of the under-16 timeout of the second half, Drake had damaged its huddle early, and Abreu was joking with a safety girl stationed on the free-throw line. McCollum affectionately calls him Buddy the Elf as a result of he’s all the time in a superb temper. A day earlier, Abreu mentioned that he by no means watches basketball — he prefers motion pictures — and his ignorance of the basketball world is a present. “The nerves aren’t there as a result of I simply don’t know,” he mentioned.
He buried each free throws to power extra time.
“They’re robust. I imply they’ll outlast ya,” McCollum mentioned. “That’s the factor, like there’s a degree of toughness. There’s a degree of outlast. There’s a degree of, you realize, who’s going to take it additional? And we’ve simply tried to coach them to have the ability to create these habits to take it a bit bit additional and combat a bit bit extra.”
In extra time, Stirtz discovered the little bit extra.
He scored 5 of Drake’s first seven factors in OT, and after Ok-State’s Coleman Hawkins buried a 3 with 12.3 seconds left to tie the sport, Stirtz acquired the inbound go and calmly jogged the ball up the ground. Drake arrange with all 4 teammates lined up on the baseline and let Stirtz go to work. Stirtz crossed over, acquired Hausen on his heels and buried the game-winner.
That was a response.
Stirtz and the Bulldogs have been undaunted by high-major competitors to date. (Jay Biggerstaff / Imagn Photos)
The hero returned to his locker stall and sat. He leaned again, arms on his lap and stared straight forward in a daze.
Stirtz is a Ok-State fan. His grandparents are soccer season-ticket holders. Each his older brothers went to Ok-State, and his youthful brother plans to enroll there subsequent yr. His mother wore a Ok-State shirt beneath her Drake shirt in help of Stirtz’s girlfriend, a Ok-State dancer who watched his sport winner from the alternative baseline. In highschool, Stirtz despatched his movie to Ok-State coaches. As soon as he acquired his Northwest Missouri State provide, the one ones he would have thought of have been Division I presents. These by no means got here. When Stirtz dedicated to the Bearcats, McCollum instructed buddies he thought he’d stolen one.
Byington marveled at how Stirtz and the three different former Bearcats ever ended up at that degree: “These guys are most likely starters on most SEC groups.”
Hyperbole? Perhaps. However not with Stirtz. He’s so good that NBA scouts are beginning to take discover. And school basketball is taking discover of the Bulldogs. They have been picked fifth within the Missouri Valley within the preseason coaches’ ballot. They have been projected to win the league earlier than Wednesday’s loss at UIC, in accordance with Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, and nationally they’ve been on the verge of getting ranked. On this week’s Related Press ballot, they obtained the second-most votes amongst groups exterior the High 25.
Stirtz is as unassuming a star as you’ll discover. He by no means celebrates a made bucket. He’s quiet off the ground. However in that extra time, Stirtz wished the ball and he wasn’t going to let the Bulldogs lose. In opposition to the varsity he had dreamed of taking part in for, Stirtz realized the truth that he was being face-guarded meant the Wildcats didn’t suppose they may guard him, and he began to consider it himself.
“I ain’t one for particular person s—,” McCollum instructed his workforce as soon as he acquired to the celebratory locker room, “however rattling, that’s an enormous shot.”
Then McCollum reminded his gamers of the satisfaction of what they’d simply completed. He almost went into the subsequent problem, earlier than catching himself, “I’m not even going to damage the second,” he mentioned. “Let’s simply get our prayer and get out of right here.”
The Bulldogs knelt, and Abreu delivered the proper line. “Expensive Heavenly Father, thanks for Bennett.”
Stirtz then headed to the information convention, the place he knowledgeable the media that his sport winner was the primary buzzer beater of his life. Technically, there have been nonetheless these 3.4 seconds on the clock, however that’s nearly the one flaw on this script, which one way or the other retains getting higher.
(Photograph: Mitchell Layton / Getty Photos)