Bearcat Basketball

///// Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Basketball ///// 26 MIAA Titles ///// 4x NCAA DII National Champions🏆🏆🏆🏆(‘17 ‘19 ‘21 ‘22)

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

Work hard and Be Great Teammates!

[Matt Keeley @CoachMattKeeley]

Another great set of days of being in the gym for youth camp!!

[Matt Keeley @CoachMattKeeley]

Another great set of days of being in the gym for youth camp!!

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

Current Bearcats teaching future Bearcats!

Thats a wrap on Youth Camps this summer! Thank you for spending a small piece of your summer with us. Go Cats!

#OABAAB #PlayFast

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

📸 from Day 2 of Skills Camp

#OABAAB #PlayFast

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

Future Cats working on their skills! 🏀

#OABAAB #PlayFast

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

Youth Skills Camp is a week from today!

Come spend the morning in the gym working on your skills with the Bearcats!

Get signed up today and tell a friend!

QR code below or click the link 👇
https://t.co/cnKohWQIaJ

Go Cats! #PlayFast

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⛳️🏌️🏌️‍♀️

Our annual Chip Strong Memorial Golf Tournament will take place 𝙁𝙍𝙄𝘿𝘼𝙔 𝙎𝙀𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍 11, 2026

Be on the look out for more details on the tournament soon!

[Matt Keeley @CoachMattKeeley]

Happy 4th from The Keeleys.

#Merica

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟕 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

The 2016-17 Bearcat men's basketball team captured the program's first NCAA Division II National Championship with a 35-1 record. The Bearcats began the season by winning its first 24 straight games. Following an 88-71 loss at Missouri Southern on Feb. 18 in Joplin, Mo., Northwest ran off 11 consecutive wins to hoist the trophy at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Northwest set a league record with 28 consecutive MIAA victories in the 2016-17 season. The previous MIAA record was 19 set by Northwest in 1931. Northwest claimed the MIAA regular season title with an 18-1 mark. The Bearcats stormed through the MIAA Tournament with wins over Lincoln (80-76), Missouri Southern (67-63) and Central Missouri (69-61). For the first time in school history, Northwest served as the host for the 2017 NCAA Central Region Tournament in Bearcat Arena. Northwest narrowly escaped a first-round scare as it bested Upper Iowa in overtime (79-74). The Bearcats advanced to the Elite Eight with triumphs over Augustana (74-53) and Southwest Minnesota State (55-52). Northwest took down St. Thomas Aquinas (79-70) in the Elite Eight. Northwest downed Lincoln Memorial in the national semifinals, 79-67. The Bearcats recorded a 71-61 victory against Fairmont State in the national title game. Head coach Ben McCollum was named the NABC National Coach of the Year. Junior guard Justin Pitts was honored as the NABC National Player of the Year and the Bevo Francis Award winner. Zach Schneider captured second-team all-MIAA honors, while Chris-Ebou Ndow landed third-team all-MIAA accolades. Anthony Woods and D'Vante Mosby were all-MIAA honorable mention selections.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟕 𝐌𝐁𝐁 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫
Brett Dougherty
Tyler Dougherty
Kirk Finley
Grant Graham
Ryan Hawkins
Xavier Kurth
Daric Laing
D'Vante Mosby
Chris-Ebou Ndow
Justin Pitts
Zach Schneider
Dray Starzl
Ryan Welty
Anthony Woods
Head Coach: Ben McCollum
Assistant Coaches: Austin Meyer, Andy Peterson
Graduate Assistant: Christian Phelps
Student Manager/Assistant: Cole Quick, Andrew Wright
Athletic Trainer: Nick Peters

#OABAAB

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐬 – 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 (𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖)

Justin Pitts was the first Bearcat men's basketball player to be named the NABC's NCAA Division II Player of the Year in 2017. Pitts, a native of Blue Springs, Mo., was named Small College Basketball's Bevo Francis Award winner in 2017. Pitts was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Elite Eight as he helped guide Northwest to the school's first men's basketball national title with a 71-61 victory over Fairmont State in the championship game at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Pitts became the program's second player to capture NABC First-Team All-America status (DeShaun Cooper – 2014) with first-team status in both 2017 and 2018. Pitts was a three-time MIAA Player of the Year (2016, 2017, 2018). He was the first four-time first-team all-MIAA men's basketball player in program history. Pitts helped guide the Bearcats to four MIAA regular season titles and three conference tournament crowns. Pitts was the first Bearcat to eclipse 2,000 career points and finished his career as the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,459 points. He also left Northwest with the most career assists (575). Northwest went 114-18 (including 68-11 in MIAA regular season play) in his four seasons of competition. His Bearcat teams went 20-4 in MIAA/NCAA postseason play over those four years.

#OABAAB

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐲 – 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬.)

John Coffey has served as the Radio Voice of the Bearcats for more than 40 years and has called 508 consecutive Northwest football games entering the 2026 season. Coffey, a 1982 Northwest graduate and Albany, Mo., native, began his radio career at KXCV, the University's National Public Radio affiliate, as a student reporter. He was employed shortly after graduating from Northwest as a news director at a radio station in Fairbury, Neb. He returned to Maryville to work at KNIM Radio in 1983 and began calling Bearcat football games in 1985 – and hasn't missed one since. Coffey, an Albany, Mo., native, returned to KXCV-KRNW in 1999 to help launch the Bearcat Radio Network, and he has served as station manager since 2019. Coffey been a part of 10 national championship football and men's basketball teams in his time at Northwest. Coffey was inducted into the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame this past June.

#OABAAB

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

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.

#OABAAB

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

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.
📰: https://t.co/v15mwKe99a

#OABAAB ||| @NWMOSTATE

[𝗛𝗟𝗔 𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘 @FundLucentum]

✨ Wesley Dreamer.

El apellido ya es una declaración de intenciones.

Ahora toca hacer realidad los sueños de toda una afición.

Bienvenido al HLA Alicante. 💙

#GeneracionLucentum

[PAOK BC @PAOKbasketball]

🦅Η ΚΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ ανακοινώνει την συμφωνία με τον Αμερικανό καλαθοσφαιριστή Trevor Hudgins. Ο 27χρονος point guard, μετά από τρεις εξαιρετικές σεζόν στη Γαλλία, έρχεται στην Ελλάδα για τον ΠΑΟΚ.

🔗https://t.co/XAk49IhtlN

#PAOK

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

Former Northwest Missouri State University point guard Bennett Stirtz was chosen as the 16th pick in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Stirtz (Liberty, Mo.) was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies and his rights were then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Stirtz played two seasons as a Bearcat and was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year in 2023. Stirtz averaged 13.9 points per game and handed out 232 assists in 68 games as a Bearcat. He was a two-time second-team all-MIAA performer for head coach Ben McCollum. Stirtz led Northwest to back-to-back MIAA regular season and tournament titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Northwest went 60-8 over his two seasons, including 40-4 in MIAA play, in a Bearcat uniform.

Stirtz is the fourth Bearcat to be selected in an NBA Draft joining Vic Coleman (1984), Gene Jordan (1960) and Al Henningsen (1950).

https://t.co/9iisBQ1p4I

@NWBearcatMBB

#OABAAB

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

…C.A.T.S!!!!

Congratulations to
@bennett_stirtz .

[Matt Keeley @CoachMattKeeley]

Congrats to Bennett and Coach McCollum!

Always great to Rep the Paw.

B.E.A.R…!!!

#OABAAB

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

Celebrate Freedom. Honor History.

#OABAAB ||| #Juneteenth2026

[Northwest Athletics @bearcatsports]

𝘼 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙩𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨

For decades, the Bearcat Booster Club has helped support Bearcat student-athletes. As college athletics continues to evolve, we're transitioning to a new fundraising model: the Bearcats Bleed Green Fund.
📰: https://t.co/IyRVjdLyRU

While the name and structure are changing, the mission remains the same:
👉 Support student-athletes
👉 Strengthen athletic programs
👉 Invest in the future of Bearcat Athletics

𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩. 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚.

#OABAAB

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

A new shirt and autographs from the guys 🖊️

[Bearcat Basketball @NWBearcatMBB]

That’s a wrap on our Youth Day Camp! 🏀

Make sure you get signed up for our Youth Skills Camp in July!

#PlayFast

Sign up Link ⬇️

https://t.co/GffrEJISZu