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On Aug. 22, 2003, Scott Drew assumed the head coaching position at Baylor University and took over one of the most daunting rebuilding projects in collegiate basketball history. In his fifth season in Waco, Drew and the Baylor program turned the corner, posting just the fourth 20-win season in the school's history en route to its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1987-88. Drew enters his seventh season as a head coach at the Division I level, compiling a 77-91 overall record with a 57-80 mark in five seasons at Baylor. NATIONAL ATTENTION Despite being picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 by the league's coaches, the Bears raced to a 12-2 non-conference record (including a Paradise Jam championship) and opened conference play 4-0. The 16-2 start was Baylor's best since 1946 and resulted in the school's first national ranking since 1969. The Bears finished 21-11 overall record and earned the school's best-ever Big 12 finish with a fourth-place tie at 9-7. Not to be outdone, Curtis Jerrells became just the second first-team All-Big 12 selection in Baylor history as he was named to the top squad by both the league's coaches and The Associated Press. Baylor had three players named to the 2007-08 All-Big 12 team, tying the school record which was set during the inaugural Big 12 season in 1996-97. In May 2008, center Mamadou Diene became the first men's basketball player and only second Baylor student-athlete to be named the Big 12's Sportsperson of the Year. In September 2008, the Dallas All Sports Association presented Drew with The Don Nelson Award for great achievement both on and off the court of play in the spirit of NBA player and coach Don Nelson. Baylor's place in the national men's hoops spotlight carried over to 2008-09 as the Bears were featured on ESPN.com's Preseason Top 25 by Andy Katz in June. Katz was just the beginning of the high projections for Baylor. Blue Ribbon picked the Bears No. 16 in its Preseason Top 25 poll, while CollegeHoops.net listed the Bears No. 17 overall and a possible Sweet Sixteen participant. Drew's squad also garnered preseason top 30 consideration from Athlon (No. 19) and Rivals.com (No. 28). NBADraft.Net gave Baylor its highest preseason ranking of 2008-09, listing the Bears 14th in the site's Top 144. According to CollegeHoops.net's Shawn Siegel, "[With a guard-dominated lineup,] Baylor will be one of the country's most exciting teams. But the pressing issue is whether anyone outside of all-league forward Kevin Rogers emerges as a force in the frontcourt. Regardless, now that Baylor got over the NCAA Tournament hump for the first time in 20 years, a Sweet Sixteen trip is not out of the question." Lindy's listed Baylor has having the nation's ninth-best backcourt, while listing Curtis Jerrells No. 18 among the country's top 20 point guards. Athlon listed Jerrells and LaceDarius Dunn in its Top 100 players. Jerrells was ranked No. 14 among the nation's point guards, while Dunn was ranked No. 20 among shooting guards. Both publications listed Jerrells, Kevin Rogers and Dunn as All-Big 12 selections. In addition to the attention from preseason publications, Baylor will play a school-record 25 television games during the 2008-09 season, including two ESPN games at the Ferrell Center. Baylor will played a school-record 11 games on the ESPN family of networks, including a pair of dates on ESPN's "Big Monday." THE PROGRAM'S FUTURE FOUNDATION Drew's recruiting success (three of his first four classes were rated among the top 20 nationally), particularly under less-than-ideal circumstances, has stocked the program with top-100 national prospects and provided optimism to Bears fans. Long considered a top-level national recruiter, Drew's reputation was upheld immediately upon his arrival in Waco when his first three Baylor recruiting classes were rated 10th, 11th and 17th, respectively, in the nation (widely considered Baylor's top consecutive recruiting classes ever). The three-player 2007 class, while not ranked among the nation's top 20, did include the school's highest-ranked recruit in memory -- LaceDarius Dunn, ranked 24th nationally by Scout.com. In his first season in 2003-04, Drew inherited a team with half the allotted scholarship players and he added a handful of walk-ons. The team -- which was summarily dismissed by all preseason prognosticators as having no chance to be competitive and perhaps finish winless -- surprised everyone by winning eight games, including three Big 12 Conference contests. Drew and his overachieving Bears finished the season 8-21 and won over Baylor fans and basketball fans alike with their scrappy play and no-quit attitudes. The team exceeded all expectations and Drew was praised for his efforts and mentioned in Big 12 Coach of the Year discussions. In his second season Drew took the court with the nation's most inexperienced team (one returning scholarship player). The 2004-05 Bears fought their way to a better record than the previous season, 9-19, including an impressive 73-72 road upset at Purdue. In his third season, Drew's 2005-06 Bears overcame perhaps their biggest challenge to date, when despite being banned from playing any non-conference games (due to violations of the previous coaching staff), Drew's very young Baylor squad defied the odds and won four Big 12 games (matching its conference win total from the previous two seasons) and finished the abbreviated season 4-13. The Bears played through the early season handicap and made news in the latter half of the season with noticeably improved play, evidenced by wins in two of the final four games (two losses by a combined seven points) and wins in four of their final five home contests. Drew's 2006-07 squad showed glimpses of the success to come, when a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores played a full schedule and with a full allotment of scholarships for the first time in four seasons and posted a 15-16 record - Baylor's most wins in six years. The Bears finished the season with three wins in their final six games, including the school's first win in a Big 12 Championship game since 2001. PRIOR TO BAYLOR Drew came to Baylor after a decade of coaching at Valparaiso, the final year as head coach. He led the 2002-03 Crusaders to a 20-11 record and into the NIT. Valpo earned the Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship with a 12-2 league record. The previous nine seasons, Drew served as an assistant at Valpo under his father, the legendary Homer Drew. He was promoted to associate head coach for the 2001-02 season. Drew coached his father's 200th win at Valpo (against Oakland on Jan. 27, 2001) when Homer was ill. In 10 seasons at Valpo, Scott Drew helped lead the program to six NCAA Tournament berths, including the magical 1997-98 squad that shocked the nation by advancing to the Sweet 16. Valpo made five straight NCAA appearances from 1996 to 2000. The younger Drew was responsible for three national top-20 recruiting classes during his last five years at Valpo. Drew was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision and helped produce what HoopScoop.com named the nation's sixth-best recruiting class in 2001 (per average talent), the 13th-best in 1999 (per average talent) and the 27th-best in 2003 (per average talent), a class that included three top 100 national recruits. Drew was part of the coaching staff that led Valpo to nine straight Mid-Continent Conference championships, including dual regular season and tournament titles in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2001-02. The Crusaders were regular season champs in 2000-01 and 2002-03, and won the conference tournament in 2000. Drew was the driving force behind Valpo's international pipeline that produced more than 10 players from Europe, Africa and South America from 1995 to 2003. He has European coaching experience, having served as head coach of the Athletes In Action team which toured Croatia and Bosnia in the summer of 1997. In August 1995, Drew assisted the AIA team that traveled to Germany, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece. PERSONAL A 1993 graduate of Butler University with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree, Drew earned a master's degree from Valparaiso in 1994. Drew worked with Butler's men's basketball program from 1991 to 93. Drew and his wife Kelly are the parents of one daughter, Mackenzie, and one son, Peyton. |
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