What is next for Bryce Drew?

Mikeminnc · February 16, 2020, 03:30:52 PM

Curious as to how actively Bryce is seeking new coaching opportunities, and what kinds of programs might have an interest in him as we approach March Madness?

GoldenCrusader87 · February 17, 2020, 09:14:00 AM

Idk the details of his contract. Depending on its wording, there are big differences that would directly impact his choice, financially.

For instance, if Vandy has to keep paying him if he does not serve as a head coach for X years, he can weigh that accordingly.

This year, he's doing what many other major coaches do when they're terminated early - in his case, take Vandys money and commentate.

Smart move. I have a hard time believing he'd take just any job especially if he can keep collecting Vandy money if he does not serve as a head coach. That's typically in the contract. I say that because I do believe him when he said he wasn't going to leave Valpo for just any school.

It's about the right fit but also the community for Bryce and his family. Nashville is one of the best places to raise a family - per multiple annual reports.

He'll be selective. With that said, the 0-16 in conference is not a gem on his resume. But, it does help that Vandys AD was fired. Looks better for him.

The question then becomes what will be available - to your point - as coaches' got seats get hotter.

From the list below, Georgia Tech? Since they were already interested the last time around .... ? Maybe Boston College if he's willing to go East Coast?
YOUR CHAIR IS ON FIRE, SIR

Coaches at the end of the line at their current school. You should be seeing them here soon enough.

Jim Christian (Boston College)
Christian's Eagles sported an ugly 29-67 (6-48 ACC) record through his first three years and after seemingly turning things around in 2018 – 19 wins and a NIT – things regressed last season to three games below .500. At this point, the only thing that should save Christian's job is a spot in the NCAA Tournament (BC hasn't danced since 2009) and that doesn't seem to be in the card. The Eagles lost to 3 mid-majors in the non-conference and are in the middle of the ACC standings at 6-8. The BC job will be pretty enticing for up-and-coming coaches this coming offseason if AD Martin Jarmond decides to make a change.
Mike Dunlap (Loyola Marymount)
Dunlap has been at LMU since 2014 after four straight .500 or below seasons, he won 22 games and led the Lions to the CBI Semifinals last year. However, his program is again sitting at the bottom of the WCC. The Lions are 8-17 and have won just 2 of 10 conference games. Dunlap was 70-87 overall coming into this season, but with all three of the Lions' top scorers leaving after last season there were serious holes to fill. The contract extension LMU signed Dunlap to back in 2017 has him locked in through next season, but the terms of a potential buyout are not available.
Dave Leitao (DePaul)
Leitao led the Blue Demons to their most recent NCAA bid (2004), then bounced for the Virginia gig a year later. The school brought him back in 2015 but things have not been the same this time around. The squad did turn a small corner last year by finishing as CBI Runner-up (19-17 overall) and their 9-0 start this year was one of the biggest surprises in the country, but they have now lost eight of their last nine (lone win was over #5 Butler) and are 1-10 in Big East play. Despite what the eye-test may say, DePaul is a high-major program and fans rightfully want more. Oh, the program is also on NCAA probation, with Leitao earning a three-game suspension for failing to "promote an atmosphere of compliance."
Jeff Neubauer (Fordham)
Fordham keeping Neubauer was one of the biggest surprises of the past offseason, as AD David Roach continues to hold out hope that his basketball coach will turn things around. Neubauer started off with 17 wins and a trip to the 2016 CBI, but in the three years since then the Rams have gone right back to the A-10 basement. After back-to-back last-place finishes and two assistant coach defections, Neubauer added two former head coaches (Anthony Evans and Dennis Felton) to his staff for year five. It is worth noting that his predecessor, Tom Pecora, finished in last place four straight years and then third to last in his fifth before he was fired.
Josh Pastner (Georgia Tech)
This seems inevitable, as Pastner's tenure at Tech has been a mess both on and off the court. The Jackets have finished below .500 in each of the last two seasons and Pastner is dealing with sanctions (scholarship reductions, postseason ban and recruiting limitations) from NCAA violations committed by one of his former assistants. While Pastner was not directly charged with anything, it seems like Tech can still fire him with cause and avoid having to pay some/all of his hefty buyout. We see schools turn a blind eye to these things all of the time, but AD Todd Stansbury didn't hire Pastner and the lack of on-court success doesn't bode well. Update: Tech is 12-13 (6-8 ACC) but they did recently upset #5 Louisville in Atlanta.

tiny707 · February 17, 2020, 10:58:23 AM

I think he wants a faith based school and would take the De Paul job. He was interested last time they had an opening and they went back to Dave. I also think Porter Moser would take the De Paul job.

usc4valpo · February 17, 2020, 11:31:57 AM

No decent head coach should take the DePaul job until their athletic director is gone.

valpo84 · February 17, 2020, 12:45:36 PM

Fordham and LMU (Despite its spectacular location/campus) are absolutely no's. BC is interesting, but in the ACC that job is really difficult now and there are better jobs that will be open soon and warmer locations, see GaTech.

GaTech and DePaul are interesting options.

Two schools not mentioned that have tough decisions to make and could be open are Northwestern and Wake Forest. A recent Chicago Tribune article had Chris Collins nearing the end of his safety net for finally getting NW into a tourney. Bryce is perfect for that job and would ramp up the competition for recruits with us.

Danny Manning has used up all his good will at Wake, and the alumni base wants a change. Shaka Smart's name has been mentioned, but they blew it by not hiring Scott Drew when they hired Bzdelik, who singlehandedly ruined what Skip and Dino had rebuilt. If Brad Brownell can have success at Clemson, Bryce would be a great fit at Wake. They need a system program with the ability to recruit 3-4 year players. John Collins' explosion set that program back, but Manning has proven he is not a good coach.

Finally, will Indiana open back up? Archie is not winning friends, particularly after that Purdue game. Patience has worn out. An Indiana basketball legend could have an opportunity to rebuild that program where outsiders have failed.

NativeCheesehead · February 17, 2020, 02:01:54 PM

Not sure a P5 program takes a chance on him yet after Vandy. Ironically, an MVC type program would be a good landing spot. Maybe A-10.

FWalum · February 19, 2020, 10:15:20 AM

Quote from: valpo84 on February 17, 2020, 12:45:36 PMTwo schools not mentioned that have tough decisions to make and could be open are Northwestern and Wake Forest. A recent Chicago Tribune article had Chris Collins nearing the end of his safety net for finally getting NW into a tourney. Bryce is perfect for that job and would ramp up the competition for recruits with us.

Danny Manning has used up all his good will at Wake, and the alumni base wants a change. Shaka Smart's name has been mentioned, but they blew it by not hiring Scott Drew when they hired Bzdelik, who singlehandedly ruined what Skip and Dino had rebuilt. If Brad Brownell can have success at Clemson, Bryce would be a great fit at Wake. They need a system program with the ability to recruit 3-4 year players. John Collins' explosion set that program back, but Manning has proven he is not a good coach.

The Wake job is interesting. I know that Homer and Skip Prosser were friends and with Wake being a Baptist school I could see this having a strong appeal to Bryce and would be one of those "special" schools where overt displays and demonstrations of faith would be acceptable (at least they were 12 years ago when my daughter was there).

GoldenCrusader87 · February 20, 2020, 06:31:25 AM

Great point with Wake Forest.

One thing to consider though is that he was as hot of a commodity as anyone in the country coming out of that NIT run with Valpo.

Soo he could be more selective in determining what constitutes as a "special" place.

He *may* not have that same level of selectivity right now depending on how the Vandy stuff is viewed.

What will be even more interesting to me, though, is who he takes with him.

Powell - Zags. Diebler - Ohio State ... etc.

Does he poach these guys from their current institutions? Or does he put together a largely new staff?

I'd love to see Matt go with him. Depending on his contract and where he'd go, Matt could end up making a good salary still and could learn more before getting another HC opportunity.

valpo84 · February 20, 2020, 08:24:08 AM

First person he may take to his new school is Casey (and with him his two basketball playing sons). There's lots of other VU folks to tap, too, without Roger or Jake (both of which are lined up now for HC jobs -- Roger possibly NW if it opens or Jake a MAC school) -- Buggs and Nuness to start. Sparksy, J-Hawk, CA and Vujic are out there and may be he convinces Coach Ensminger to come back to the states with his tall HS age basketball playing children (BTW Valpo, hope we are recruiting those kids). The one thing about Valpo basketball is that many of our players have had high basketball IQs and have become excellent teachers of the game all over the world.

VUGrad1314 · March 10, 2020, 08:31:26 PM

Bryce is on the call for the Summit League final NDSU vs UND on ESPN2 if anyone's interested. NDSU is blowing North Dakota out though.

valpotx · March 13, 2020, 06:42:13 AM

GCU? I highly doubt it, but he is apparently rumored as a target:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28894516/grand-canyon-fires-dan-majerle-7-seasons-head-coach

usc4valpo · March 13, 2020, 08:07:11 AM

His name has been brought up on the DePaul message board. Unbelievable as it sounds, the GCU job may be better.

IndyValpo · March 13, 2020, 11:13:39 AM

Quote from: valpotx on March 13, 2020, 06:42:13 AM
GCU? I highly doubt it, but he is apparently rumored as a target:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28894516/grand-canyon-fires-dan-majerle-7-seasons-head-coach

GCU will be signing a high profile coach it would appear. The atmosphere at their games is something to witness.

The WAC is not strong with the exception of NMSU who no one can beat.

tiny707 · March 13, 2020, 01:36:28 PM

Bryce likes private faith based schools. Fans are awesome at GCU, the school has really grown, Phoenix is not a bad city, and they pay well. I think he goes to GCU or Wake Forest or De Paul.

valpo84 · March 13, 2020, 03:36:18 PM

The best job of those 3 is Wake. The ACC is the cream of the basketball conferences, and your odds of tourney are high if you are .500. Plus, prettiest campus, great basketball facilities (new practice facility), Joel Coliseum, lots of money for sports. Tremendous alumni base and he played in Charlotte so familiar with area.

usc4valpo · March 13, 2020, 06:50:09 PM

Agree that Wake Forest is the best job - unfortunately Bryce will not be in the running there.

vu84v2 · March 13, 2020, 07:19:09 PM

GCU is a fraudulent university, so why would anyone with a good (or even mediocre) reputation go there? As noted below, their fraudulent attempt to become a "private university" was strongly rejected late last year by the U.S. Dept. of Education.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/11/13/education-department-explains-grand-canyon-decision

There is a lot more regarding the seriously corrupt histories of their CEO and CFO, the latter of whom was fired from University of Phoenix (Apollo) for options fraud and then hired several years later by Grand Canyon.

https://citronresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LOPE-The-Educational-Enron.pdf

IndyValpo · March 15, 2020, 05:09:20 PM

Here are more job openings:
Western Michigan
Western Illinois
Wyoming
Air Force
James Madison
Southeast Missouri
UIC

VUGrad1314 · March 15, 2020, 05:58:02 PM

I feel like Wyoming should take a look at NDSU's coach. He's been able to win in a tough location It might tranlate there too in a higher profile conference.

crusadermoe · March 15, 2020, 06:18:24 PM

Wow. Western Illinois! Jump on that

Just Sayin · March 15, 2020, 08:14:38 PM

Not much out there thus far. Those universities would be a step or two backwards. He should wait for some better pickings.

FWalum · March 15, 2020, 11:10:13 PM

Quote from: usc4valpo on March 13, 2020, 06:50:09 PM
Agree that Wake Forest is the best job - unfortunately Bryce will not be in the running there.

Interesting statement. Do you have some reasoning to back it up or is it just your opinion?

VU2014 · March 15, 2020, 11:29:05 PM

DePaul is a Catholic institution, but would not call it faith based by any stretch of the imagination...

IndyValpo · March 16, 2020, 11:52:15 AM

Hot rumor out here has Bryce as the #1 choice for the GCU job. I don't know though with the Western Illinois job available!!

VUGrad1314 · March 16, 2020, 06:19:03 PM

Yuck... Bryce at that school would just feel so so wrong... But at least maybe he can get them to be decent and create a good series for us perhaps...