He wore a gold tie and a dark suit. Bryce Drew spoke about how his new employer offered the full package for basketball players – the opportunity to compete at the highest level athletically and also learn at the highest level academically.
“Just from being here a couple hours, I can feel the energy,” Bryce Drew said Wednesday. “I can feel how this is a special place.”
It was a scene that could be easily imagined taking place at Georgia Tech. The only problem for Tech and its supporters is that Drew was addressing news media about 215 miles northwest of Atlanta. Drew was officially introduced at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium, a black and gold celebration in which athletic director David Williams proclaimed “I want to be Villanova” – that is to say, win the national championship. Meanwhile, Tech’s search for a replacement for a successor to Brian Gregory appeared headed for a 13th day.
Drew interviewed with Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski at the Final Four in Houston Saturday and was intrigued. But comments from Drew and those close to him on Wednesday suggested that Bobinski was fighting an uphill battle against Vanderbilt.
“It’s always been a school that I think he’s respected and looked at and had on the radar,” said Dana Drew Shaw, Drew’s sister, of Vanderbilt.
Drew’s mother Janet said that it had been “quite a few years, I think,” that he was eyeing the school as he led Valparaiso to four Horizon League regular-season championships and two NCAA tournament appearances in his five seasons. The job opened up when Kevin Stallings jumped to Pittsburgh March 27 after 17 seasons at Vanderbilt. Drew filled it when he called Williams Monday to tell him he was coming to Nashville.
Williams himself said that he sensed Drew’s leaning in his interview with Vanderbilt’s four-person committee, including Williams, in Houston this past Sunday.
After just three minutes, Williams said he knew “this was the job he’s been waiting for all his life. It just came out.”
In his comments, Drew noted Vanderbilt’s academic prestige, described the arena as “tremendous,” gushed about Nashville and the school community and appreciated the committee’s interest in him not just as a coach, but as a developer of men.
“When our season was done, obviously I had some conversations, different things like that, with Vanderbilt being the last one,” Drew said. “And just going through the process with my wife, as we went through everything, we just really loved the people and the community and the opportunity here at Vanderbilt University.”
Shaw, Drew’s sister and a sports attorney (though not her brother’s agent), said there was nothing else Tech could have done.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I think that Mike is an amazing AD. I’ve heard incredible things. They’re going to be successful because he’s successful.”
At least for another day, however, Bobinski’s success at finding a coach would have to wait.
“We definitely thought about (Tech), but this is just a better fit for us,” said Tara Drew, Bryce Drew’s wife.
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