During the 12 years Scott Drew was a student manager at Butler (1991-93), an assistant coach at Valparaiso (1993-2002), and head coach at Valparaiso (2002-03), he watched from afar as Indiana averaged 22 wins per season, never won fewer than 19 games in a season, never missed an NCAA Tournament, and appeared in three Elite Eights, two Final Fours, and one national championship game.
In the 18 years since Scott Drew left Valpo for Baylor, Indiana has averaged 18 wins per season, won fewer than 19 games 10 times, missed 11 NCAA Tournaments, and appeared in zero Elite Eights, Final Fours, and national championship games.
Indiana basketball is broken, and Archie Miller can’t fix it, Pat Forde wrote on Sports Illustrated two weeks ago. Scott Drew can, Forde suggested.
“He’s not unhappy at Baylor, but Drew might be the big fish Indiana could land. Baylor has developed a good basketball following—for both the men’s and women’s programs—but Texas remains bedrock football country. If Drew wants one chance at a power program that prioritizes hoops, in a state he knows well, this could be it.”
And if Indiana wants to go fishing, Drew might bite. On Monday’s episode of High Motor by BetMGM, Forde said Drew, along with Chris Beard and Mick Cronin, is a realistic candidate for Indiana if and/or when the Hoosiers fire Miller.
“Drew may not say yes but I think he’s worth a swing. And I feel pretty strongly that he would listen, that’s he not gonna say, ‘Forget it.’ I think Indiana means something to him.
Drew is the son of former Valpo head coach Homer Drew and spent nine years on his father’s staff at the small university in northwestern Indiana before taking over the Crusaders in 2002. At the time of his August 2003 departure for Baylor, Drew had spent the last 26 years in the state of Indiana.
“He’s done incredibly well at Baylor but it’s not as easy at Baylor as it is, or could be, at Indiana when Indiana is functioning at a high level. I think Drew is able to look at that and say, ‘I’m doing really well and I may be able to win a national title … I can go to Indiana and maybe win a lot of national titles or at least compete for them.”
You can listen to Forde’s full comments on the Indiana job, the likelihood of John Calipari leaving Kentucky, and other college basketball notes below (or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and everywhere else podcasts are available):
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Andrew Doughty is a writer for BetMGM and host of High Motor by BetMGM, an NFL and college football podcast available on Apple Podcasts and everywhere else. He has written for Sports Illustrated, HERO Sports, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter: @DoughtyBetMGM
