The 2024–25 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

in the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. The Bulldogs, led by

Ben McCollum Benjamin Matthew McCollum (born April 12, 1981) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Biography McCollum was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, where ...

in his only season as head coach, played their home games at the

Knapp Center The Knapp Center is a 6,424-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1992. The Knapp Center is the center building for three athletic buildings combined. The Bell Center to th ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

as members of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC). They finished the regular season 27–3, 17–3 in MVC play to win the school's first outright conference title since the 2007–08 season. In the MVC tournament, the seed and defeated

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, Belmont, and

Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...

to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their third straight appearance. There the defeated

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in the First Round marking the school's first NCAA tournament win since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

. In the second round, they lost to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

. On March 24, 2025, head coach Ben McCollum left the team to take the head coach position at

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. On March 28, the school named

South Dakota State South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the second oldest continually operating universit ...

head coach

Eric Henderson Eric Charles Henderson (born January 8, 1983) is an American football coach who is the co-defensive coordinator, defensive line coach, and run game coordinator for the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference (NCAA). He previously served as an ass ...

the team's new head coach.

Previous season

The

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

finished the 2023–24 season 28–7, 16–4 in MVC play to finish in second place. In the MVC tournament, they defeated

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

, and

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West region, where they narrowly lost to

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

in the first round. On March 24, 2024, it was announced that head coach

Darian DeVries Darian Dale DeVries (born April 7, 1975) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana. He was previously the head coach at Drake Bulldogs men's basketball, Drake Unive ...

was leaving the school to take the head coaching job at

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Subsequently, most of the roster entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is in ...

. On April 1, the school named Division II Northwest Missouri State head coach Ben McCollum as the team's new head coach.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

Preseason

The Bulldogs, as the defending Arch Madness champions, were picked to finish fifth in the conference's preseason poll. Forward Cam Manyawu and guard Bennett Stirtz were selected to the Preseason All-MVC third team.

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team Drake Bulldogs men's basketball seasons

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...