Missouri Valley

Goodbye Ben Jacobson

by
Harry Schroeder
April 1, 2026

Thanks for the Memories

(St. Louis, MO) – The Dean of the Missouri Valley Conference coaches is gone. We must say, ‘goodbye Ben Jacobson.’ If I’m honest, I’m happy that Jake gets a chance at a power conference gig, but I’m selfishly, somewhat sad.

Ben Jacobson is one of the truly good guys that I’ve encountered along the way in this college basketball reporting world. He’s been accessible, forthright, professional and consistent. I remember when he took over for Greg McDermott at Northern Iowa and he would walk the sidelines with 3×5 cards in his sport coat pocket and pull them out at times to call a play or to remind himself of some point of strategy.

“Jake and the Giant Killers” became one of my favorite phrases to type into a story as UNI would wake everyone from their slumber when they would knock off some power conference team. Twice his teams defeated the number one ranked team in the country. Twice.

Jake recruited the northern Midwest like few others could. If someone was a really good player in Iowa or Minnesota and they weren’t headed to one of the power conference schools, they were headed to Cedar Falls.

Oh, there were the all-American types like A.J. Green and Seth Tuttle, but scores of other players from those two states in particular that would end up dawning the purple and gold and win conference championships, Arch Madness trophies, NCAA Tournament games and the hearts of Panther fans.

Who can forget former voice of the Panthers, Gary Rima shouting ‘Down Goes Kansas, Down Goes Kansas!’ If I close my eyes I can see Ali Farokhmanesh’s shot against the Jayhawks, and Paul Jesperson’s against Texas.

I can replay the Wes Washpun slow motion Arch Madness winning jumper against Evansville.

Special memories and great theatre.

Personal Impact

Different than the on-court achievements, there are the scores of players, officials and media members that have vast respect for Ben Jacobson. He isn’t Josh Schertz or Jim Molinari funny. Jake isn’t a coach demanding his moment in the sun or some kind of adulation like other coaches we’ve seen.

He is confident but not arrogant and professional but not rude. Open to conversations and willing to respond and to listen. Numerous times I heard him thank people like me for asking about a certain player or situation that he cared about.

We’re saying ‘goodbye Ben Jacobson’, but even this week when some coaches are leaving for a different position with all the grace of Missouri Mule kicking a fence post, Jake was holding a press conference in Cedar Falls to give a kind and gracious ‘farewell and thank you’ to the friends, fans, media members and his players.

Practically no one takes that step, but Ben Jacobson did.

I have a friend that is close to the UNI program who isn’t a famous person, nor a big donor, but someone that has shown great appreciation for Panther basketball. Some years ago when that person was significantly ill. Jake heard about it and more than once would check in and call that person to know that he cared and was in their corner.

397 wins. Let that sink in. Five Arch Madness titles. Four conference championships. Five-time Valley coach of the year. Those are legendary kinds of numbers.

But those are the ‘credentials’ not the ‘character’. We all know of coaches with credentials that maybe lack the character. That’s not the case for the new Utah State head basketball coach. They’ve been playing basketball at Northern Iowa for 125 years. The last twenty have been coached and shepherded by Jacobson.

His care for and mentoring of so many young men in that program will bear fruit for many years to come because of the rare and raw intensity and integrity of this good man.