The Strong Basketball Relationship between Drake and Iowa 3/31/2025 - With the recent hire of Ben McCollum as men's basketball coach from Drake, it made me reflect back on the relationship between the two schools. What came to mind immediately was Lisa Bluder, who was hired by Iowa in 2000 after coaching at Drake from 1990–2000, where she turned the Bulldogs into a powerhouse, winning multiple Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) titles and making the NCAA Tournament. She had an amazing career at Iowa, leading the Hawkeyes to two national championship games and multiple Big Ten Tournament championships. When she retired in 2024, her 30+ year assistant coach Jan Jensen took over. Jensen played at Drake from 1987–1991. In Jensen's senior season, Bluder became the head coach for Drake. Jensen led Division I women's basketball in scoring that season, finishing with 29.6 ppg. She was named a Kodak Honorable Mention All-American, a member of the All-Gateway team, and the GTE Academic All-American Player of the Year. After a few years playing professionally, she joined Bluder's staff at Drake in 1993, and followed her to Iowa in 2000. Similar to Jensen, Jenni Fitzgerald was a senior basketball player at Drake when Bluder arrived, and she earned first team all-conference recognition as the starting point guard that season. She joined Bluder's staff for 8 years at Drake as an assistant coach, and followed Bluder to Iowa until her retirement after the 2023-24 season. I think Iowa fans would be very happy if McCollum had as much success as former Drake coaches Bluder, Jensen and Fitzgerald provided at Iowa. Continuing on the women's side, former Iowa women's basketball player Jennie Lillis Baranczyk was hired as Drake's head coach in 2012. Lillis played for Bluder at Iowa from 2000-2004. She helped turn around the Drake program, leading them to a 20-11 in the 2014-15 season and two WNIT appearances. The 2016–17 season set new heights, as the Bulldogs reached a 28–5 record that included a program and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) record 22-game winning streak and 18–0 MVC record, the first team in the MVC to go undefeated in conference play. Drake won its first conference title since 2008 and first outright title since 2000. Drake went on to win the MVC tournament for the first time since 2007 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. Megan Meyer played for Iowa from 2019–2021 under Bluder. She appeared in 40 career games during the 2020-21 season, averaging 8.8 minutes and 2.3 points per game. She transferred to Drake for the 2021-22 season, and was named MVC Newcomer of the year and selected to All-MVC First Team after scoring in double-figures 23 times that season. Her career was cut short during the 2022-23 season after a season-ending knee injury. When McCollum got the Iowa job, a photo was shared showing him as a kid at an Iowa basketball camp with Tom Davis. Tom Davis was Iowa's head coach from 1986–1999, where he led the Hawkeyes to nine NCAA Tournaments, including three Sweet Sixteen appearances as well as an Elite Eight. The Hawkeyes never lost a first round game in the NCAA tournament under Davis. His team was ranked number one during the 1986–87 season and the Hawkeyes won a school record thirty games before eventually being beaten in the Regional Final (Elite Eight) of the NCAA Tournament. He left Iowa as the winningest basketball coach in University of Iowa history. After getting forced out at Iowa in 1999, his last team made it to the Sweet Sixteen. No Iowa men's basketball team has made it that far in the tournament since that season. One of his former players was Al Lorenzen, who was the Assistant Athletic Director for External Affairs at Drake, and contacted Davis about his interest in the job. In 2003, Davis was named head coach at Drake, where he re-energized a Bulldog program that had not had a winning season since the 1985–86 season. He led Drake to a 17–15 record in his fourth season before retiring after the 2006-2007 season. His son Keno Davis took over as head basketball coach at Drake, where he had been an assistant coach for those 4 seasons. He was also an undergraduate assistant coach and player at Iowa under his father from 1991–1995. During the 2007–2008 season, he continued the rebuilding effort by leading the Bulldogs to an NCAA tournament and 28-5 record, and won National Coach of the Year honors. Matt Gatens was a four-year starter at guard for Iowa where he scored 1,635 career points, the sixth most in Iowa history. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time team captain. After his playing career ended, he spent four seasons (2019-22) on Drake’s coaching staff. He served as director of operations his first two years before being elevated to an assistant coach the last two seasons. He rejoined the Iowa basketball program in 2022 as an assistant coach. Back to McCollum, it looks like he will be bringing in a few transfers from Drake, including star player Bennett Stirtz. I'll update this article before the season starts with the final list of players. Another huge connection was a former Drake basketball player, Bucky O'Connor. He played from 1933–1937, and became a letterwinner and team captain his senior year. He joined the Iowa athletic staff as the freshman basketball coach and head golf coach in 1948. In 1950, he took over as head coach for the 1949-50 season. He led the Hawks to a 19-3 record in the 1951-52 season. He is best known for recruiting and coaching the players who comprised the "Fabulous Five": The team won the Big Ten in the next two seasons, advancing to the Final Four both times. In the 1955-56 season, which was the Fabulous Five's final season together, the Hawkeyes won 17 consecutive games and advanced to their only NCAA championship game in school history, where they lost to the University of San Francisco, marking the end of Iowa's most successful era of basketball. He died in a car accident in April 1958 at the young age of 58. But if you want to go really far back, one of the most famous transfers between Drake and Iowa occurred over 100 years ago. Aubrey Devine and his brother Glenn Devine enrolled at Drake in January 1919, but transferred to Iowa after only one week. Aubrey went on to letter 3 years in basketball, but he excelled at football, becoming a consensus All-American in 1921, and made first-team All-Big Ten three times.