Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
Author Message
Bookmark and Share
gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #1
MyBB Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2020 09:54 AM by gleadley.)
03-17-2020 09:53 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #2
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
GCU names Bryce Drew head coach
Former Valpo, Vandy head coach to take reins of Lopes program
Men's Basketball 3/17/2020 7:00:00 AM


Three-time NCAA tournament head coach and March Madness legend Bryce Drew has been selected by Grand Canyon University to serve as its new men's basketball head coach.

"We are unbelievably excited to have Bryce Drew lead our basketball program into its next phase of development," GCU President Brian Mueller said. "Bryce built a very successful mid-major program at Valparaiso and proved he can recruit at a high level at Vanderbilt but, most importantly, he embodies the Christian mission of the University in how he lives his life both on and off the court."

Drew, 45, is rooted in a basketball coaching tree that includes his College Basketball Hall of Fame father (Homer, a Valparaiso coaching great) and his older brother (Scott, a 17th-year Baylor head coach). The Drew trio has amassed 1,155 college coaching wins.

Drew becomes GCU's 14th head coach in a role he has served successfully at his alma mater, Valparaiso, and at Vanderbilt, where he qualified for his third NCAA tournament visit as a head coach in 2017. Drew enters GCU with a career coaching record of 164-108 (.603), including a program-record season of 30 wins in his final year at Valparaiso.

"It begins with the mission of the University and the vibrant Christian atmosphere and how it's moved out beyond the campus into the surrounding neighborhoods and the city," Drew said. "My wife and I fell in love with the campus and the area. Even with the mission and how great the campus is, it has fantastic people."

Drew said President Mueller, Interim Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs and GCU Strategic Adviser Jerry Colangelo are "just tremendous leaders. The vision that the president has for what he has done and what he wants to do with the University blew me and my wife away. That's something we want to be a part of."

With tireless recruiting and a positive on-court approach, Drew averaged 25 wins per season at Valparaiso and won the Horizon League regular-season championship four times during his five-year tenure (2011-16). He led the Crusaders to their first NCAA tournament berth in nine years with 2013 and 2015 visits.

Drew moved to Vanderbilt to take on the SEC challenge in 2016 and coached his first Commodores team to five wins against top-25 teams and an NCAA tournament berth. He came to the Phoenix area to land his first Vanderbilt recruit, Saben Lee, who starred this season with 18.6 points and 4.2 assists per game.

"I like building relationships and recruiting is building relationships," Drew said. "To be able to go into a young man's house and sit down with him to map out his future and then have them achieve those goals and dreams four years later is a great feeling. We love to help young men develop into Godly men and great husbands and hopefully win championships along the way."

Drew continued the nationwide and international recruiting success by assembling the greatest class in program history in 2017, when he signed two five-star prospects. Each player suffered knee injuries, contributing to a losing 2018-19 season that peaked at 7-2 when Vanderbilt defeated then-No. 18 Arizona State. One of those players, Darius Garland, played five games that season but was still drafted fifth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2019 NBA Draft.

"I have known the Drew family for decades," Colangelo said. "I can't think of a better coach and person to lead our basketball program going forward. He and his brother, Scott, represent all of the characteristics, on and off the court, that led their father, Homer, into the College Basketball Hall of Fame."

For the past year, Drew worked as an ESPN studio and game analyst, visited college and pro coaches and spent time with his wife, Tara, and 5-year-old son, Bryson. Drew's Christian faith has been embedded in his life, as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes member, Athletes in Action player and a coach at faith-based universities.

"GCU is such a unique university and, even with how successful it is now, I think it's just scratching the surface for where it's going to end up being," Drew said. "What President Mueller has accomplished in a short amount of time is truly remarkable. I'm excited to get Grand Canyon even more on the national scene so they can see what a wonderful University it is as a whole."

Drew played six NBA seasons after being drafted 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in 1998, where he started 41 games in 2000-01. In 1999, the NBA awarded him with the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award for sportsmanship.

The 6-foot-3 point guard, who also played for the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets, was known for his perimeter shot (37% 3-point shooting) but he is most famous for "The Shot" he made in college.

In a 1998 NCAA tournament first-round game, Valparaiso was trailing 69-67 with 2.5 seconds remaining when his father called for a play with a three-quarter court pass and a touch pass to a sideline-streaking Drew. He made a leaning 3-pointer from 23 feet to give the 13th-seeded Crusaders the upset win over fourth-seeded Mississippi.

Valparaiso kept the Cinderella slipper for another round, beating Florida State in overtime to become the program's first Sweet 16 team. Drew finished with two Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year awards and a school-record 2,142 points. He averaged 17.7 points and 5.2 assists for his career, which ended with All-America third-team honors. His No. 24 was retired at the northwest Indiana campus.

Drew grew up the youngest of three kids in a close-knit family with his brother, Scott, and his sister, Dana, who was a Mid-American Conference Player of the Year at Toledo. He won "Mr. Basketball," Indiana's top high school player award, for leading a Valparaiso High School team that went unbeaten until the 1994 state title game. He was recruited by Stanford, Notre Dame, Purdue and Syracuse, among others, but chose to stay in his town of 25,000 to play for his father.

Homer Drew put "Valpo" on the college basketball map, guiding the Crusaders to seven NCAA tournament appearances in his 22 seasons at the helm. He retired in 2002 for his oldest son, Scott, to take over the program but returned to the bench a year later for eight more seasons when Scott became Baylor's head coach.

Scott Drew has turned around Baylor's program. His Bears teams have gone 351-220, including this year's 26-4 season that earned him Big 12 Coach of the Year honors and landed Baylor at No. 5 in the nation.
Drew's style borrows from his father and older brother, recruiting high-character players and supporting them with uplifting on- and off-court mentorship. Once the ball is tipped, a fiery sideline competitiveness emerges and remains after a lifetime around basketball.

"From afar, I've heard about the Havocs and the atmosphere," Drew said. "It already has a reputation for a great passion for basketball. I want to come in and win championships. I want to be able to get the school its first berth in the NCAA tournament. We want to recruit and bring on incredible student-athletes that are great representatives of Grand Canyon and the mission."
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2020 09:56 AM by gleadley.)
03-17-2020 09:56 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
dancingNMSUaggie Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,324
Joined: Nov 2010
Reputation: 33
I Root For: NMSU
Location:
Post: #3
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.
03-17-2020 02:08 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #4
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-17-2020 02:08 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.

Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).
03-17-2020 04:41 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


dancingNMSUaggie Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,324
Joined: Nov 2010
Reputation: 33
I Root For: NMSU
Location:
Post: #5
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-17-2020 04:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 02:08 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.

Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).

Boom! Excellent come back my friend. You got me! I agree that he looks like a quality person. I think Drew is a good guy and time will tell if you get the Valpariso winner or the Vanderbilt loser. I am lifting a glass to you my friend right now! Cheers!
03-17-2020 10:06 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Country_Wisdom_359 Offline
2nd String
*

Posts: 362
Joined: Jan 2019
Reputation: 10
I Root For: Lopes, Govs, Raiders
Location:
Post: #6
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-17-2020 10:06 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 04:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 02:08 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.

Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).

Boom! Excellent come back my friend. You got me! I agree that he looks like a quality person. I think Drew is a good guy and time will tell if you get the Valpariso winner or the Vanderbilt loser. I am lifting a glass to you my friend right now! Cheers!

While I’m sure Aggie fans will never stop having fun picking on GCU, I’m guessing the new coach will be a lot less arrogant and draw a lot less ire. All these references to Tan Dan... haha!
03-18-2020 12:17 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #7
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 12:17 PM)Country_Wisdom_359 Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 10:06 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 04:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 02:08 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.

Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).

Boom! Excellent come back my friend. You got me! I agree that he looks like a quality person. I think Drew is a good guy and time will tell if you get the Valpariso winner or the Vanderbilt loser. I am lifting a glass to you my friend right now! Cheers!

While I’m sure Aggie fans will never stop having fun picking on GCU, I’m guessing the new coach will be a lot less arrogant and draw a lot less ire. All these references to Tan Dan... haha!

You do realize there is no shortage of things that rhyme with "Drew", right? Hahaha
03-18-2020 12:27 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


NMSUPistolPete Offline
All American
*

Posts: 4,334
Joined: Jun 2005
Reputation: 135
I Root For: NMSU
Location: AZ
Post: #8
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 12:27 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-18-2020 12:17 PM)Country_Wisdom_359 Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 10:06 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 04:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 02:08 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  0-18 in his last year in the conference. Yikes.

Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).

Boom! Excellent come back my friend. You got me! I agree that he looks like a quality person. I think Drew is a good guy and time will tell if you get the Valpariso winner or the Vanderbilt loser. I am lifting a glass to you my friend right now! Cheers!

While I’m sure Aggie fans will never stop having fun picking on GCU, I’m guessing the new coach will be a lot less arrogant and draw a lot less ire. All these references to Tan Dan... haha!

You do realize there is no shortage of things that rhyme with "Drew", right? Hahaha

It doesn't need to rhyme. We called him Thunder Tan too.
03-18-2020 12:57 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
PojoaquePosse Offline
Blowhard
*

Posts: 2,414
Joined: Mar 2017
Reputation: 147
I Root For: NMSU
Location:
Post: #9
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 12:57 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  
(03-18-2020 12:27 PM)gleadley Wrote:  
(03-18-2020 12:17 PM)Country_Wisdom_359 Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 10:06 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  
(03-17-2020 04:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Guess how good coaches come available to mid/low major schools? They grab asses in bars or hit rough patches and lose some games. Otherwise, they stay employed. Drew seems like a quality person and coach who is interested in developing young men and basketball players. What he will or won't accomplish as GCU's HC remains to be seen, but he seems like a good fit for the University at this point (not even 8 hours into his tenure).

Boom! Excellent come back my friend. You got me! I agree that he looks like a quality person. I think Drew is a good guy and time will tell if you get the Valpariso winner or the Vanderbilt loser. I am lifting a glass to you my friend right now! Cheers!

While I’m sure Aggie fans will never stop having fun picking on GCU, I’m guessing the new coach will be a lot less arrogant and draw a lot less ire. All these references to Tan Dan... haha!

You do realize there is no shortage of things that rhyme with "Drew", right? Hahaha

It doesn't need to rhyme. We called him Thunder Tan too.

The biggest disappointment in all of this is not being able to say "Thunder Tan" anymore. I'm really gonna miss that.
03-18-2020 02:38 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #10
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
Very disappointed I never heard or saw a "Blunder Tan" reference, but maybe it was simply selective attention on my part.
03-18-2020 04:47 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


Country_Wisdom_359 Offline
2nd String
*

Posts: 362
Joined: Jan 2019
Reputation: 10
I Root For: Lopes, Govs, Raiders
Location:
Post: #11
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 04:47 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Very disappointed I never heard or saw a "Blunder Tan" reference, but maybe it was simply selective attention on my part.

Remember that ridiculous promo ad they ran on Cox 7 where he broke into the news room and was the weather guy calling for thunder! Thunder! Thunder! ?

I do...

And how Dan always ripped on poor Barry B during the interviews and his weekly Dan Majerle show?

I do...

And I guess we will likely not have as crazy midnight madness stunts like lowering down from the ceiling.
03-18-2020 07:20 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
NMSUPistolPete Offline
All American
*

Posts: 4,334
Joined: Jun 2005
Reputation: 135
I Root For: NMSU
Location: AZ
Post: #12
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 07:20 PM)Country_Wisdom_359 Wrote:  
(03-18-2020 04:47 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Very disappointed I never heard or saw a "Blunder Tan" reference, but maybe it was simply selective attention on my part.

Remember that ridiculous promo ad they ran on Cox 7 where he broke into the news room and was the weather guy calling for thunder! Thunder! Thunder! ?

I do...

And how Dan always ripped on poor Barry B during the interviews and his weekly Dan Majerle show?

I do...

And I guess we will likely not have as crazy midnight madness stunts like lowering down from the ceiling.

Yeah, I don't see Bryce Drew doing those type of promo stunts.
03-18-2020 07:30 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
edinburger Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,190
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 66
I Root For: UTRGV
Location:
Post: #13
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
The short time between the two announcements (Majerle out, Drew in) is astonishing.

Guess it's the difference between a private school and a public one. It would take us weeks after the firing to even get an postion posted.

Congratulations, looks like a solid pick. On that last season at least you know why he's available, and the reason isn't a character defect.
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2020 09:04 PM by edinburger.)
03-18-2020 09:04 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #14
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-18-2020 09:04 PM)edinburger Wrote:  The short time between the two announcements (Majerle out, Drew in) is astonishing.

Guess it's the difference between a private school and a public one. It would take us weeks after the firing to even get an postion posted.

Congratulations, looks like a solid pick. On that last season at least you know why he's available, and the reason isn't a character defect.

Drew wasn't in a coaching gig elsewhere, so my best guess is these conversations could have started well before the season ended. If speculation is to be believed, the final determination to let Majerle's contract expire without renewing could've made as far back as the beginning of February. That would've given GCU leadership and Drew over a month to become discreetly acquainted and work out many of the necessary details for Drew's hire well in advance of Dan's departure.

All that is to say what looks like a quick hire could have actually been a relatively deliberate and extended behind the scenes process. At the time Majerle's departure was announced, a good friend keenly pointed out at that there was not the typical indication that "a national search will be conducted to blah, blah, blah..." That being the case and now with the benefit of hindsight, maybe GCU had their candidate the whole time.

If so, the only things left to do were get Drew on campus to see the facilities and vibe, then sign on the dotted line. With the announcement of Majerle's departure coming Thursday evening, if his office was packed up and moved out by Friday morning, I bet Drew was on campus and touring the facilities less than 24 hours after. That all fits Drew's description of making a quick trip to Phoenix last weekend.

Shoot, I bet the toilet seat in the head coach's office bathroom wasn't even cold yet!
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2020 12:45 AM by gleadley.)
03-19-2020 12:39 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
dancingNMSUaggie Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,324
Joined: Nov 2010
Reputation: 33
I Root For: NMSU
Location:
Post: #15
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
Right now Majerle is sitting on his couch binge watching old Suns games of his glory days with a beer in one hand and the other hand down his crouch with a giant beard growing. I wonder what his son Max is gonna do now? GCU was the only offer. I so wish NMSU would offer him!
03-19-2020 04:17 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
gleadley Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,982
Joined: Jan 2017
Reputation: 42
I Root For: GCU
Location: Phoenix. AZ
Post: #16
RE: Lopes Hire Bryce Drew as their 2nd MBB HC in the D1 Era
(03-19-2020 04:17 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Right now Majerle is sitting on his couch binge watching old Suns games of his glory days with a beer in one hand and the other hand down his crouch with a giant beard growing. I wonder what his son Max is gonna do now? GCU was the only offer. I so wish NMSU would offer him!

Sounds about how I would picture Majerle right now, too. Max holds at least one other D1 offer (Portland St) and theoretically still has a whole summer of AAU ball ahead of him to garner more interest. NMSU would be hilarious!
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2020 04:38 PM by gleadley.)
03-19-2020 04:38 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.