The 2026 Northwest Missouri State University M-Club Hall of Fame class has been announced. Six individuals and the 2016-17 men’s basketball national championship team will be enshrined.
The Class of 2026’s individual inductees include early age inductee John Coffey (Bearcat Radio) along with modern age inductees Trevor Adams (Football), Maddy Bruder (Volleyball), Ben McCollum (Men’s Basketball Coach), Justin Pitts (Men’s Basketball) and Kim Spriggs (Women’s Track & Field). The 2016-17 men’s basketball team captured the program’s first NCAA Division II national championship with a 35-1 overall record. The season included MIAA regular season and tournament titles.
The ages have been established to ensure a focus on candidates from throughout the history of Bearcat athletics. The modern age includes candidates from the last 30 years, while the early age includes candidates from 31-plus years and earlier.
The Class of 2026 will be inducted into the M-Club Hall of Fame during the annual festivities on Friday, Oct. 30 in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom and will be recognized during the Homecoming football game on Saturday, Oct. 31, vs. Emporia State. Tickets for the Friday evening banquet may be purchased on the Bearcat athletics website. Seating for the event is limited and the deadline to reserve your spot at the banquet is Oct. 16, or until tickets are sold out.
The 2026 class will bring the total of individual inductees to 188. The M-Club Hall of Fame was established for individuals in 1980, and teams were first enshrined beginning in 1989.
Ben McCollum – Head Men’s Basketball Coach (2009-2024)
The trophies and titles piled up as high as the awards and accolades during the 15-year reign of head men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum. The Storm Lake, Iowa, native guided the Bearcats to an elite level among NCAA Div. II teams with four national championships – including an unprecedented three-peat. McCollum posted a record of 394-91 which featured a 32-7 mark in NCAA Tournament play and a perfect 12-0 mark in Elite Eight games. He is the only five-time NABC National Coach of the Year in the history of NCAA Div. II basketball. He captured nine MIAA Coach of the Year awards. Three times he was honored as the Clarence “Big House” Gaines National Coach of the Year.
McCollum led the Bearcats to 13 consecutive 20-win seasons, 10 25-win seasons and five 30-win campaigns. He guided the Bearcats to 12 MIAA regular season titles and eight MIAA Tournament championships. McCollum produced 10 MIAA Players of the Year, five MIAA Defensive Players of the Year, five MIAA Freshmen of Year, eight first-team NABC All-Americans and four NCAA Div. II National Players of the Year. After leaving Northwest, McCollum led the Drake Bulldogs to a 31-4 record, Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Tournament victory over the Missouri Tigers. McCollum took over the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2025-26 and led them an Elite Eight appearance in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which included a win over No. 1 seed Florida in the second round.
