Hey, folks.
I hope you don't mind hearing from a Northwest Missouri State University graduate here. I apologize in advance for the length. I bolded a couple of TL;DR passages.
It doesn't sound like I need to spend a lot of time selling you on Ben McCollum; and truthfully, I probably couldn't bring myself to do it. Losing him (and I realize it will, at some point, become inevitable) is going to hurt.
But this is what I wanted to say to you.
If we are going to lose Ben, I feel strongly that THIS is the job. It's a perfect fit for him and the school. He never brought Division I talent to Maryville. But he helped develop one (Ryan Hawkins) into a guy who took his COVID year to help lead Creighton to the NCAA Tournament and another (Trevor Hudgins) who signed a two-way deal with the Houston Rockets.
I never got the sense that he was even looking at how many stars a kid had. He wants kids capable of running his system. Toughness on defense. Good shooters on offense. And intelligent on both ends. I suspect ALL KINDS of those kids fall through the cracks on the east coast as schools hunt for the next freak athlete.
I cannot promise you he would stay forever, but I know he stayed in Maryville longer than I ever thought he would.
He turned over his entire starting lineup after between the first and second national championship. He didn't leave when all five starters were gone from the title team. He rebuilt and won another national championship two years later. COVID cost him one, but he picked up his third the following year.
He lost Ryan Hawkins to Creighton after that one. That would have been another reason to leave. But he stayed.
And won his fourth the following year before losing Trevor Hudgins to the Houston Rockets.
He had to leave at that point. But he stayed.
I know this guy, like all of us, is going to do what is right for his family. And that could mean taking a higher paying job at some point. But I genuinely believe that he is just as likely to decide that a healthy environment is more important for his family than a bigger paycheck.
Thank you for indulging me. Good luck in your search.
