Vanderbilt basketball needed a fresh start. After Kevin Stallings left Nashville to become the new head coach at Pittsburgh, a new era officially started for the Commodores.
The question was, who would be the leader of that new era?
That question has been answered. Valparaiso head coach Bryce Drew is set to take over as Vandy’s new coach, and the hire is already garnering plenty of praise from college basketball fans and media around the country.
And why shouldn’t it? Drew has been a resounding success since taking over as head coach of the Crusaders in 2011.
He won four Horizon League regular season titles in five years, two conference tournament titles, and was named Horizon Coach of the Year the past two seasons.
If you’re a program banking on a young coach with a high ceiling, you could do far worse than Drew. He has the energy and personality to market the Vandy basketball program the way that it needs to be marketed, and that will be a huge asset.
While it was rumored that Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall may be Vandy’s top target in the search, nothing seemed to come of that. And instead of going after the “big name” for a new coach, Vandy went with the best fit.
Marshall would have undoubtedly fared well at Vandy, but perhaps Drew will prove to be an even better overall fit for the direction of the program.