You can take Scott Drew out of Indiana. But you can’t take the Indiana out of Scott Drew.
Having lifted Baylor from the ashes of scandal to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 20 years, Drew has become the darling of central Texas. But it’s Hoosier State blood that still courses through his veins.
“We got him eating some barbecue now,” said Bears senior forward Mark Shepherd, who is from Austin. “Besides that, not much. He’s definitely got his Indiana roots. He’s changed a little bit, but he’s still an Indiana boy.”
Drew, who went to Butler and spent the first 10 years of his coaching career at Valparaiso (nine as an assistant under his father, Homer Drew), will make an NCAA tournament head-coaching debut today at Verizon Center that is both appropriate and ironic: as the lower-seeded team against an opponent from Indiana.
“I want to let you know, [Purdue freshman and Valparaiso, Ind.-natives Scott Martin and Robbie Hummel are] going to score 30-plus, but they’re going to let us win the game,” said Drew.
All joking aside, Baylor’s ascendancy has been no less that remarkable, after the disappearance and murder of former player Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carl Dotson led to allegations of NCAA violations, self-imposed sanctions and the resignation of then-head coach Dave Bliss in 2003. Drew took over, and in his first three years the Bears were 21-53 before surging to 15 victories last season.
“I got here when things were down in the dumps, pretty much,” said Shepherd, a fifth-year walk-on. “Through a lot of hard work and perseverance, we were able to turn the program around. Here we are today.”
Despite winning 16 of their first 18 this year, Bears are still underdogs, but that position is familiar to Drew. During his tenure as assistant, the Crusaders were seeded no higher than No. 12 in six NCAA appearances, famously advancing to the 1998 Sweet 16 as a 13-seed.
Drew’s current team prefers it that way.
“Coach has always shared his experiences at the NCAAs with us,” said Bears junior forward Kevin Rogers. “But I don’t think it’s anything different than what he’s always told us. Just coming to Baylor, it has kind of been like an underdog, and I think that’s how we like being.”
