Basketball (Men)
Bryce Drew
Associate Head Coach
ARC A113
219-464-5782
Bryce.Drew@valpo.edu
The man perhaps most synonymous with Crusader basketball, Bryce Drew begins his second season as a member of the Valparaiso coaching staff and his first year as the associate head coach. Bryce is responsible for basketball development, recruiting, and scouting for the Crusaders.
Drew joined the Valpo coaching staff prior to the 2005-06 campaign as an assistant coach under his father, Homer. He helped guide the Crusaders to a 17-12 record in his first season on the sidelines.
Bryce, Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1994 at Valparaiso High School, began his collegiate career at Valpo by garnering Mid-Con Newcomer of the Year and Mid-Continent Conference Tournament MVP honors as a freshman. Bryce piled on the accolades while at Valpo, earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team his final three seasons after landing on the Second Team as a freshman. It was during the conference tournament, however, that Drew really shined, earning All-Tournament team honors each of his four seasons and picking up three Mid-Continent Conference Tournament MVP awards. He was also twice decorated as Mid-Con Most Valuable Player, one of only three players to be so honored twice in their career. In addition to his individual accolades, Drew led the Crusaders to four Mid-Continent Conference regular season championships, four tournament titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Drew, the career leader in points (2,142), three-point field goals (364) and assists (626) at Valpo, etched his name into the American consciousness in 1998 when he hit “The Shot" in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament to beat Ole Miss. The play, in which Drew caught a tip pass from teammate Bill Jenkins off a full-court feed from Jamie Skyes, won Drew an ESPY award and gave Valpo its first NCAA Tournament win in school history. Two nights later, the Crusaders knocked off Florida State in overtime and took their Cinderella journey to Saint Louis for the Sweet 16.
Following his collegiate career, Drew again made school history when the Houston Rockets drafted him with the 16th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, the first time a Crusader had been chosen in the first round. Drew's NBA career lasted six seasons with the Rockets, Chicago Bulls, and Charlotte and New Orleans Hornets before he headed to Europe in 2004. Drew's best professional season came in 2001 when he started 41 games for the Bulls, averaging 6.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. A prolific shooter, Drew set a Hornet record when he connected on nine consecutive three-point attempts. Twice as a pro, Drew competed in the postseason, with Houston in 1999 and again in 2002 as a member of the Charlotte Hornets. In his NBA career, Bryce scored over 1,000 points and made 37% of his three-point attempts. In 1999, Drew was honored by the NBA with the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award for sportsmanship. During his career, Drew played alongside All-Star teammates such as Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Scottie Pippen, and learned the game from many successful NBA coaches, including Rudy Tomjanovich and Paul Silas.
Bryce follows not only his father into coaching, but also his older brother Scott, who served as an assistant coach at Valpo for nine seasons before taking over the program in 2002 and leading the Crusaders to a 12-2 Mid-Con record and berth in the National Invitational Tournament. Scott left Valpo in 2003 for Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he is entering his fourth season as Head Coach.
Drew graduated from Valparaiso in 1998 with a degree in sports management and a minor in business. He and his wife Tara currently reside in Valparaiso.
