#BRYCE DREW FREE#
In his postgame speech, Drew deliberately makes eye contact with every player, offering a direct, concise message that - perhaps surprisingly in this era of college basketball - is free of obscenity. Nesmith goes out of bounds to make another great play and Shittu follows with a fast-break dunk, with an eruption from the bench heard throughout the entire arena.ĭespite its efforts, Vandy ultimately runs out of gas late, succumbing to the older, more experienced and healthier Wolfpack 80-65. Nesmith makes a terrific hustle play that results in a chase-down block, followed by an and-1 for his fellow freshman Shittu. Vandy is revitalized in the second half, showcasing a renewed focus, ultimately cutting NC State's double-digit lead to two. So bad body language? Give me something else." So just play through it, and be aggressive and be physical. The first four minutes, we told you they're not going to call fouls, all right, they're not going to give us anything. "Let's be clear," Drew says, "there is one guy who gets on the refs, all right, and that's me. To cement his message, Drew writes an assortment of key points on the board, including "body language," "focus" and "togetherness," while drawing different islands to represent everyone playing for himself and not the team. "Someone tell me why I'm really disappointed in our team." In the locker room, Drew's first words have little to do with basketball, however. The Wolfpack have shot 49 percent from the floor NC State has 10 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points. It's halftime, and Vanderbilt has fallen behind NC State 46-34. Vanderbilt battled against NC State but ultimately fell to the older, more experienced and healthier Wolfpack. "He's a special player," Drew acknowledges of Garland. although it's the sentiments of those inside the locker room that are his primary concern. With Garland lost, Drew must manage that expectation. There's no entitlement here, but there's expectation. The last SEC regular-season hardware came in 1992-93. The program Drew took over in 2016 last reached the second weekend in 2007. The Commodores' last SEC title was in 2012 (they won the conference tournament), also their most recent season with an NCAA win. While a consistently strong program, Vandy has spent most of the past couple of decades in the shadow of Kentucky, Florida and a rotating group of SEC flavors of the month. Says Homer Drew, Bryce's dad and the legendary longtime coach at Valparaiso, "I used to tell our staff: Recruiting is like shaving. The ability to recruit high-level SEC players was a promise Drew had already delivered the fan base, a vision of talent spotting that was inherited as much as it was learned. A terrific recruiting class was already in place - in addition to Garland and Shittu, the team added another strong, instant piece in forward Aaron Nesmith - and hopes for a big 2018-19 mounted. The 20 losses were a school record.īut Commodores fans were mostly willing to give Drew the benefit of the doubt. Last season's group was younger, less physical and struggled to defend throughout a disappointing 12-20 season.
9 seed (the Commodores lost to Northwestern). Vandy made the NCAA tournament in Drew's first season, with a 2016-17 team led by current New York Knick Luke Kornet going 10-4 down the stretch to reach the field as a No. It is Season 3 for Drew at Vanderbilt, and the expectations have arrived. The collegiate career of Darius Garland looks like it will end up as a case of what might have been. "They're going to run and jump for 40 minutes," Drew says, diagramming the Commodores' press break in detail. The 44-year-old Drew, wearing a black suit with a crisp white shirt and gold tie - Vandy colors, enters the locker room and his young roster perks up. There are a dozen players and a staff counting on Drew to figure out life without him. His loss is considered a devastating blow to a team that entered 2018-19 with very real NCAA tournament hopes.īut Drew doesn't have time to mourn Garland or consider what his presence might have meant during this season or even this game. Garland stayed in Nashville while his team traveled for this neutral-site game in Miami. He's expected to miss the remainder of the season. Garland, the top recruit of Drew's career and the highest rated in school history, tore his meniscus eight days prior, two minutes into what would become a loss to Kent State.
The Commodores' other heralded freshman, point guard Darius Garland, is not in Miami on this December Saturday. Nearby, 6-foot-10, 240-pound freshman center Simi Shittu, one of Drew's most decorated recruits, politely declines a Gatorade.
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