Drew turned down two big time jobs last offseason. Would Indiana prove more enticing?
Whenever the Indiana men’s basketball head coaching job opens up, there’s always a few candidates that generate some buzz.
One of them is Brad Stevens. If you’re reading this, that whole situation probably needs no further explanation. The other is Baylor’s Scott Drew.
Indiana is not alone in this either. Drew was reportedly approached by both Louisville and Kentucky for the openings at their programs last offseason only to turn down both to remain with Baylor.
So, why Drew?
Drew is an Indiana name, but not like others who are bound to come up. He’s not from the state like Stevens, Brad Brownell or other candidates that come up for the job. His father, Homer Drew, was a longtime college coach around the state and gave the younger drew his first assistant coaching job at Valparaiso.
He began his career as a student manager at Butler before the aforementioned gig at Valparaiso, a program he took over as head coach upon his father’s retirement.
The head coaching stint at Valpo was short-lived, just a single season. Baylor came calling and Drew opted to make the move to Texas in 2003 and he’s been there ever since.
Scott Drew is Baylor. Baylor is Scott Drew. He’s been at the program for over twenty seasons at this point and built it from nothing to a national champion during that time. He owns a large majority of the Bears’ NCAA Tournament appearances and is firmly entrenched.
Drew’s Baylor has been an offensive-oriented program since its rise to prominence in the Big 12 and nationally, boasting one of the more efficient offenses in the country more often than not. When the Bears have combined that offense with strong defense they’ve either won the title or put themselves in strong position as a 1-seed.
But, why would Drew leave?
Again, that’s over twenty years in Waco at this point. He’s raised a family there and is at a program that would probably never have a solid reason to show him the door and would fight to keep him if a job like Indiana came calling, as happened last offseason with Louisville and Kentucky.
Drew is a longshot, but he’d likely make it work in Bloomington.