 | | Head men's basketball coach stopped by for a live chat on Wednesday, March 24. |
Scott Drew recently completed his first season as head coach of the Baylor men's basketball program, leading the Bears to an 8-21 record, 3-13 in Big 12 play. Drew has received praise from all over the country, from fellow coaches to the media, on the Bears' remarkable season under difficult circumstances. Drew came to Baylor after 10 seasons coaching at Valparaiso, the final as head coach. Drew led the Crusaders to a 20-11 record and into the NIT in 2002-2003. Valpo earned the Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship with a 12-2 league record last season. The previous nine seasons, Drew served as an assistant at Valpo under his father Homer Drew. During Drew's decade at Valparaiso, the Crusaders earned six NCAA Tournament berths, including the magical 1997-1998 squad that shocked the nation by advancing to the Sweet 16. Valpo made five straight NCAA appearances from 1996-2000. Drew was part of the coaching staff that led Valpo to nine straight Mid-Continent Conference championships, including dual regular season and tournament titles in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2001-2002. The Crusaders were regular season champions in 2000-2001 and 2002-2003, and won the conference tournament in 2000. An outstanding recruiter, Drew was responsible for three national Top-20 recruiting classes the last five years. Drew was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision and helped produce what Hoop Scoop magazine named the nation's sixth best recruiting class in 2001, the 13th best in 1999 and the 19th best in 2003 (including four Top-100 national recruits). |
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 |  | Scott Drew: Good afternoon, everybody. Let's get started. |
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| Nathan (Waco): What do you think is the most needed area of improvement for the basketball team? |
| | Scott Drew: Depth, but because of our current situation we won't have that for another couple of years. Because it is hard to practice when you don't have 12 or 13 scholarship guys, because 1 or 2 are always injured. In addition, realistically every coach would like to have 2 players for every position in case of injury, illness or just poor play so they can have someone else to put in. |
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| Martin (San Antonio): How do you compare your first recruiting class at Baylor with some of your better classes at Valparaiso? (Moderator's note: Similar questions submitted by Rick Anderson, Houston; Won Kim, San Diego; Austin, Waco; Todd, Waco; James, Houston; Fahad, Austin) |
| | Scott Drew: Currently this class is ranked higher than any class we had at Valparaiso, but most coaches will tell you that we would rather rank the classes after they graduate rather than before they get started. |
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| James (Waco): If you could point out the most memorable point in the season this year what would it be? Also, It seemed like the team struggled early before Big 12 play, so what was the turn-around point in the season that stood out to you? |
| | Scott Drew: The most memorable moment was the locker room celebration after the win at Texas A&M. Baylor had not won at A&M in a long time and any time you can win on the road, it is a great accomplishment. As far as your next question, I think several things contributed to our better play during the Big 12 season. Early in the year we had a lot of distractions and roster changes and it was tough to develop any kind of chemistry and rotation. I also credit our players in improving throughout the year. |
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| Todd (Waco): Coach Drew, How do you plan on filling the Ferrell Center next year? |
| | Scott Drew: In sports there's a famous addage: "Build it and they will come." I know as our teams become more successful on the floor the crowd numbers will improve. I was very pleased throughout the year with the support our team was able to receive. Even though the numbers might not have been large, the decible level was high from those who came. One thing I know is every great player would like to play in front of great crowds, and it makes recruiting easier the more fans we have at our games, so together we will build this into something special. |
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| Mike(Austin): Any chance of giving students better seats, like Duke and other universities are doing? |
| | Scott Drew: That is something in the future, hopefully we can accomplish. From the standpoint I know the energy level the students generage really help provide a home-court advantage. Thanks for the support. |
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| Jim, Dallas: Coach, when do you think that Baylor will build a practice facility for its men's and women's basketball teams? Do you consider this a critical need? |
| | Scott Drew: That is a very good question and since so many universities now have a practice facility, it is becoming more and more of a necessity in recruiting. Hopefully this will happen in the near future. |
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| Greg Mills (Waco): Coach, first of all I want to congratulate you and the team on an unforgettable season. You more than exceeded expectations. Are there currently any plans to bring more Pac 10/ACC/SEC teams to play Baylor in the coming years? What are your thoughts on a tougher nonconference schedule, given the already difficult Big 12 season? Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication, Sic'em. (Moderator's note: Similar questions submitted by Matt, Waco; Karl, Bryan) |
| | Scott Drew: One thing I like doing is playing some of the marquee names in college basketball. At Valpo, we were able to schedule Duke, Cincinnati, Syracuse, etc. However scheduling the top teams takes years of planning because most schedules are done 2 or 3 years in advance. Hopefully in the future we will be able to add some of these teams to our schedule. I know for the immediate future the most important thing is winning games and building confidence. Just like building a house, you start with the foundation. |
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| Bill Whitmire (Cameron, Texas): Great Season this year, Really enjoyed the enthusiasm and the better conditioned play that we saw. If you can give us an idea without too many particulars, what sort of travel plans do you have this Summer for scouting recruits? |
| | Scott Drew: The summer recruiting is mainly laid out for coaches nowadays with most of the top players all playing in big tournaments at the same locations. These tournaments are spread throughout the United States from New Jersey to Las Vegas. We need to sign the best players if we're going to beat the best teams. So wherever they go, we'll go. |
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| Matt (waco): Coach I heard you had plans to have Jessica Simpson sing the national anthem. Is this true and is Nick going to be there? |
| | Scott Drew: I know that is one additional way to help attract fans!! We would love to have our local celebrities return home. |
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| Ramsey, Dallas: Is it realistic to think that the men can follow the women's growth model (i.e. Sweet 16 in 4 years)? |
| | Scott Drew: Most definitely, that's what excites us so much about Baylor University. Not only can we achieve those kinds of successes, but in doing so we can represent Baylor in a positive light. We have the opportunity to be great role models. |
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| damante (waco): what is the biggest thing you can sell to recruits as it regards this university? |
| | Scott Drew: The people!!! This is a special family-type University and one which is very welcoming to new recruits. We also have a great niche with our outstanding academics and Christian values. P.S. - We do have a lot of playing time available as well. |
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| Robert (Waco): Coach first off congratulations on a successful year considering all of the distractions and restrictions. I enjoyed seeing the teams performance and look forward to next year. What teams have suprised you and disappointed so far in the NCAA tournament? Thanks and keep up the hard work. |
| | Scott Drew: The surprise of the tournament has to be Nevada. UAB also was a huge surprise to most people. I think Oklahoma State really had an impressive performance against Memphis. I think it's been a very exciting tournament so far, but it will be even more exciting in the future when we're a part of it. |
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| kimberly (virgin islands): why did you go to baylor after the events that took place there? |
| | Scott Drew: Anyone that posts from the Virgin Islands deserves an answer. Anyone that knows Baylor, knows that the events that happened last summer were an isolated incident and not representative of what the school stands for. Our staff feels there's a tremendous opportunity here at Baylor and we're excited to be a part of it. Together we can make this something special. |
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| Tim, Waco: What type of offense and defense do you prefer to run? I know that you were limited this year due to the number of scholarship players we had, but would you like to run more next year or in future years and play more man-to-man defense? |
| | Scott Drew: My coaching philosophy has been one that plays to the strengths of the players on the team. We will recruit the best student-athletes that we can to Baylor, and then play a style that best suits them. If we're a more athletic team, then we'll press and run a lot more, if we're a bigger, slower team, then we'll play more half-court. As far as defenses go, 70% of my coaching career the team have played man-for-man, 30% we have played zone. Whatever gives us the best chance to win, we'll play. |
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| Scott - Garland: I'm still amazed that we played OSU to the wire in Waco. They have a legitimate chance to win it all. Was that our best game? |
| | Scott Drew: The Oklahoma State game was definitely one our best games and very exciting. Hopefully in the future we can win those games. I look for Oklahoma State to be in the Final 4, as would most after their game with Memphis. |
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| Jeremy Johnson (Philadelphia): Hey Coach Drew, No question, just wanted to let you know that your leadership and hard work with the team this year was such a pleasure to watch and hear about. I'm an incoming student who will be attending Baylor next year, but I think I speak for all Baylor fans when I say how much we appreciate your efforts, and the consistent efforts of the players. On a personal level, please know that I?m very excited about seeing you and your new recruiting class on the court next season. Thanks again for your hard work, it?s greatly appreciated. Sic?em! |
| | Scott Drew: The Baylor basketball family would like to thank all the fans and people that have been so kind and supportive throughout the season. Together I know we were able to achieve a lot more than most people thought we were capable of. That's a credit to all of us for sticking together. Thanks again for your support. Sorry we do not have time to answer any additional questions. Good luck to the Lady Bears this weekend and see you at the games next year. |
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