(Des Moines, IA) -- Drake is formally introducing its next head men's basketball coach. Eric Henderson held an introductory press conference on Monday.
"Obviously, it takes a lot of support to be successful, Henderson says. "The crowds that you guys are getting. The DU Collective and the support that we're getting with that leadership is incredible...financial support, yes. Extremely important. But even more, showing up to games. Making sure when you see our student-athletes you say hello to them."
Henderson comes to Des Moines after six years as the head coach at South Dakota State.
"I know I'm coming to an incredible place," Henderson says. "But I don't want to forget my Jackrabbit family."
He replaces Ben McCollum, who led the Bulldogs to 31 wins in the 2024-25 season before departing to take over the program at Iowa. Brian Hardin, the Athletic Director at Drake, outlined his priorities in the search.
"We wanted to ensure our next coach had experience with three areas," Hardin says. "Sustained excellence of a program, identification and development of student-athletes and was the right fit for our campus and our community."
The NCAA basketball season gets underway in November.