Heizynberg’s Coaching Search Deep Dive
Well, Darian DeVries left us high and dry. As we all know, after only 1 year of missing the tournament and losing to the bottom 2 teams in the Big 12, we will be looking for a new coach. Thankfully for us, there is not another AD in the country I’d rather have making the hire than Wren Baker. While this is not an insider info dump, it’s more of a deeper dive into the 4 most likely candidates. I’m not looking to throw 15 names at a wall and hope one of them sticks, or give BS hypothetical betting odds based on bad information.
Ben McCollum- DRAKE
Ben McCollum may just be the best X’s and O’s coach in the country. The former NW Missouri coaching legend is good friend and former colleague of our very own Wren Baker. McCollum is a 4x division 2 national champion with a career record of 422-94 by the time of this article. He is a coach who lives and dies by preparation and in-game adjustments with a well-balanced and efficient style of play. There is, however, heavy smoke towards him coaching for Iowa, which is in his home city. In his first year at Drake, he has broken Darian DeVries’s record for wins in a season and has them in a prime position to win a tournament game with mostly D2 and Juco players including All-American Bennett Stirtz, who would likely follow. He was one of 6 coaches to lead their team to 30 wins this year.
Jerrod Calhoun - UTAH STATE
Jerrod Calhoun is the current coach at Utah State. Calhoun is a former WVU assistant coach and was a part of our staff during the 2010 final 4 run. In his 6 years at Fairmont State (2012-2017) he led them to 4 D2 tournaments and a 124-38 record. His claim to fame, however, is what he was able to do at Youngstown State. He took them from the bottom 10 in fundraising to the wealthiest team in the Horizon due to his fundraising. Jerrod led the Utah State Aggies to a 26-7 record in his first year and famously raised over 1 million dollars for fundraising in a night. His offense consists of a lot of cuts, transition, and crafty off-ball screens. His teams LOVE to crash the offensive glass which is a stark difference from our team last year. His X’s and O’s improve every year and this year, Utah State was a top 20 offense in D1.
Ross Hodge- NORTH TEXAS
Ross Hodge is a defensive mastermind for his North Texas. The Green Mean head coach lead them to a 26-8 record despite having bottom 5 funds in the AAC. Wren Baker is very familiar with North Texas as they worked together for 5 years at UNT. Coach Hodge is a prime example of a “more with less” kind of coach.
Chester Frazier- WEST VIRGINIA ASSISTANT HEAD COACH
Chester Frazier is no stranger to our program. He’s spent this past season as the assistant head coach and “defensive coordinator” at WVU. The former Fighting Illini assistant has been a coach or grad assistant since 2010 after a small stint overseas as a player. The DMV native has been at Illinois, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, and now WVU. He has STRONG recruiting ties to the DMV and is loved by administrators, coaches, and players alike. A high-energy guy allegedly would play the players on a visit 1 on 1 to see how they play and if they’re tough. “Chet” has been linked to a few Head Coaching jobs in the past and this year including Radford University.
