Head coach Bryce Drew returns for his second season at the helm of the Valparaiso men’s basketball program in 2012-2013 after leading the Crusaders to the Horizon League regular season title in his first year as head coach. The Crusaders amassed 22 wins and featured two First Team All-League selections in Kevin Van Wijk and Ryan Broekhoff, while Drew earned Horizon League Coach of the Year honors.
Valparaiso University director of athletics Mark LaBarbera announced at a press conference on the Valparaiso campus on May 17, 2011 that Bryce Drew has been hired as the 21st head coach in the history of the Crusader men’s basketball program.
Drew, the most decorated player in Crusader men’s basketball history, spent the last six seasons prior to his hiring as head coach as a member of the Valparaiso University coaching staff, including the last five years as associate head coach under outgoing head coach Dr. Homer Drew. Drew, who has helped guide Valpo through their transition into a top 10 league in the Horizon League, becomes just the fourth new head coach of the Crusader men’s basketball program in the last 31 years.
Drew joined the Valparaiso coaching staff prior to the 2005-2006 season, and over his six seasons on the bench helped lead the Crusaders to 102 victories. With Drew on the staff, Valpo moved into the Horizon League in 2007-2008 and returned to the postseason with a trip to the College Basketball Invitational, where it won its first-round game at Washington. In 2010-2011, Drew helped guide the Crusaders to 23 victories, their highest win total in ten seasons. The 2010-2011 Valpo squad finished just one game back of a share of the Horizon League regular season championship, and earned a postseason berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament while receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll for four consecutive weeks.
