Luke Gore on the staff of Princeton, which won the Ivy League championship; Matt Lottich on the staff at Missouri, which went 0-18 in the SEC. Bryce Drew earns Coach of the Year in the WAC as his GCU team wins the regular season title and stands at 27-4 thus far; Scott Drew has Baylor ranked #14 in the nation. Jake Diebler has put Ohio State back in the spotlight with his interim coach record. Lexus Williams on the staff at Boise State, which is 22-9 going into the MW tournament. Erik Buggs on the staff at UT-Martin, which went 21-11 this year.
I wanted to test the photo upload, so I include here a photo I took on Selection Sunday (3/15/15) as Valpo was named in the tournament bracketing nine years ago today. This is the goal for Coach Powell (partially hidden in the picture) and the whole program, and I hope it doesn't take too long. See how many players you can remember without looking up the roster, or maybe you spot yourself! [Click on the image to enlarge.]
This is really going to show my age, but I believe I was 9 at the time, dad sprung for seats in the bleachers right being the crusader bench. Some of the details are fuzzy, but for some reason I remember Brcye broke a clipboard over his knee before valpo broke away from the Pheonixs. I can confirm I met the team the following week as they were about to head off to march madness. My family are big volunteers for Porter County Special Olympics and my dad ran PCSO at the time. Sectionals for SO were held at the ARC back then and that year we did not have access to Hilltop until later in the day because the team was practicing. I have an autograph somewhere in my house from a player from this moment.
Agreed. I had a lot of fun at that game against Maryland, outside of the fact that their guy fouled Carter on that last shot, without a call. As annoying as the Dayton Flyers fans were, their game was also a great college basketball experience to be part of. They have to play their fight song the most often of any NCAA program!
https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1769823879436865722
Once again Bryce Drew is reflecting on the infamous Pacer Play.
I'll be interested to see how his Junior year turns out, but it appears that Maximus Nelson improved his 3-pt % and A/T ratio in his SO year - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5107870/maximus-nelson
Watched the Iowa NIT game last night and Krikke looked great.
Good to see that he was able to secure a postseason before embarking on his professional career
Bryce's GCU takes down St. Mary's, whose fans probably detest Bryce from his time at Valpo and now GCU. It will be interesting to see if schools come calling for Bryce again, and if he bites on anything.
I am sure schools will come calling for Bryce. But he is very selective when it comes to his employers.
I think DePaul and Xavier may be good fits for him this year?
I am sure schools will come calling for Bryce. But he is very selective when it comes to his employers.
I think DePaul and Xavier may be good fits for him this year?
DePaul?
1 they just hired someone
2 I assume Bryce has learned you don't take bad jobs just to move up
Watched some of the GCU game last night. They had a HUGE turnout by their students. How do college kids, by the thousands, fly to watch a basketball game? Seems the deep pockets behind GCU are paying for a lot of stuff.
Unless it’s a top job, Bryce Drew should stay at GCU, which is a growing school and has great support. Bryce has a good gig at GCU and I’m happy for him.
By chance I had managed to watch portions of several Gael games but last night was my first view of GCU. Very surprised by the Antelope domination! I wonder how Roger Powell would comment on that matchup?
Thanks to ESPN+, I watched GCU play throughout the season. The atmosphere at home games is unbelievable, as good as any in college sports and so rowdy to be envied. They have rabid fans who fill an arena that is a topnotch facility for 7,000, for which they have capacity attendance or beyond (7,500 with standing room) for the whole schedule every year. The administration support and funding for sports, and specifically for Bryce, is clearly first class. In addition, the location of the university is ideal for many reasons—social, cultural, business, weather, etc.—and it is religiously affiliated. The only drawback is the conference, which is ranked 14 in the NET, four behind the MVC. If they could get an invite to a higher league like the Mountain West (NET ranking of #7 this year), Bryce might be able to do at GCU what Scott did at Baylor.
