Drury Panthers

[crazznewt]

There were 7 per table and we lost count at 20 tables. Great turnout for a D2 women's basketball post season event at $20 a person. Also in attendance were several big donors that any program would be elated to have.

[crazznewt]

Wow, the Panthers pick up 6'5" junior guard, Zach Howell, from D1 University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He played high school ball locally at Springfield Catholic where he scored 55 points in a game. He had other D1 offers out of high school, including one from Texas Tech.
Like a few of his Drury teammates, he played AAU ball for legendary coach Rob Yanders.

Zach started 1 game and played only 10 last season, a result of a season ending injury. One of his better games was a 15 point effort against number 25 Colorado, going 5 of 7 from three.

He is a prolific shooter. This could be a breakout season for Drury Basketball.

Edit: Lewis Women's Basketball will have a different look next season with the graduation of Grace Hilber and the transfer of Kathryn Schmidt to Grand Valley State.

[crazznewt]

Marc Mitchell has left the Indianapolis Women's program and is now the head coach for the Indiana State Sycamores. One thing is likely: The ISU Women won't win any sportsmanship awards.

Truman State Women have some rebuilding to do after losing Weltha, Kliewer and Tolson to Graduation and starter Claire Rake to Maryville via the portal.

The Summer Pro-Am at the Strafford Sports Center starts June 2. Games will again be played on Thursdays and Sundays. This venue is a treat for basketball fans as there are normally 3 games being played at a time.

Expectations are very high for this Panther team for several reasons, one of which is the continued development of sophomore to be Juok Riak. He has the most potential of anyone who has played in this league since Brodric Thomas IMO.

Praying for no more injuries.

[Bballfan]

Interesting hire by Indiana State. Must not have the internet there. Have not heard a lot of good about Mitchell. And we all know how his teams played on the court the last few years. He won't be missed in the GLVC.

[crazznewt]

Well put. A two year record at UIndy of 31 wins and 27 losses, and a one win one loss record in the post season. Negative emotions and outbursts that spreads to players, referees and fans. Indiana State is banking Mitchell's D3 championship from three years ago translates to good things for the lady trees.

[Bballfan]

Indiana State hasn't been relevant since Larry Bird. This hire isn't going to change that fact.

[crazznewt]

Indiana State hasn't been relevant since Larry Bird. This hire isn't going to change that fact.

Larry Legend! If it wasnt for Bird's poverty and Bobby Knight's "biggest mistake", ISU wouldn't currently have a top 5 all time player in their hall of fame. His stat line at ISU: games 94, point ave 30.3, rebounds 13.3, assists 4.6.

I witnessed the dominance of Southwest Missouri State's 5'8" Jackie Stiles as she averaged 25 plus points a game over 129 games. Incredible as this was, Bird had better overall numbers.

This is an example of what one great player can do for an average team. The Valley will never have players of that caliber again.

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers signed D1 transfer and 5'10" Junior to be Josie Storey. She started 27 games last season for Tennessee Martin, averaging 6.7 points a game for a team that had balanced scoring. She is a shooter. She attempted 125 three pointers at a .432 clip. She is going to fit in well with this team as she is also a great defender.

Heard rumors of another good one that is in the works. If they stay off the DL, this team should make a deep run next season.

[Bballfan]

Be curious what their non-conference schedule is going to look like next season. Was a little weak last year compared to years prior. Regional seeding is so important.

[crazznewt]

I would imagine the oddity of the GLVC going to a 22 game conference schedule for only the women's side had a little to do with this. I believe it will return to the original 20 game format this season.

The 2 early season wins against NCAA tournament teams were huge. Unfortunately for Drury, the injury bug continued to bite.

[crazznewt]

Long rain delay....

Three Drury teams were in action last night and dominated in all three games. Individual performances that stood out to me:

*Aiden Moxness dominated in her matchup with Evangel's all conference forward. Her footwork, positioning, and finishes were near perfect. Her continued improvement would be huge for Drury as she is a strong 6' 4" and her mobility is much improved.

*Logan Applegate is on All American watch IMO as he has improved yet again. His drives to the basket are beginning to rival his prolific outside shooting.

*Juok Riak displayed his athleticism again with multiple dunks, including a heavily defended alley-oop. He also impressed on help defense with a block on the top of the square.

*Caitlynn Daniels continues to impress. There is no weakness in her game. Maybe she won't have to play 40 minutes in future big games due to the addition of 5 guards to the active roster. She is also on All American watch, IMO.

*Out of all the newcomers, 6'3" D1 transfer Kanon Gipson impressed me the most. He is a late bloomer with lots of upside. By my count, he is one of 5 Drury players who played for the legendary Robert Yanders.



A young Steve Kerr on shooting:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7el1...piYW9vMGZxdGVo


Paige Robinson interview
https://youtu.be/ewCI04Mtv0E?si=xM6D1fz6HMxdSINa

Paige Robinson camp
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6W4i...NtMDg4bTZyMg==

Another local legend, Jackie Stiles
https://youtu.be/rsxPWT9SXwM?si=Jde4Rr7c-cZWfb7-

Some Juok Riak freshman highlights. Press "show"
https://x.com/JuokRiak/status/1773746323172319339

Some lower level women's GLVC coaches need to learn what an illegal screen looks like. (Iowa WBB)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5bEg...c3ZTA2d2V0dmpw

[panthersclawz1]

The swift implosion of the best Division II Women’s Basketball program continues. Nepotism Nyla keeps a blind eye toward brain dead Bailey and her even dumber, more immature staff. They can’t recruit if their lives depended on it and they’ve run off the best player the program has seen since Diestelkamp because of their immaturity.


Program will be on a nosedive until a real coach is put in place.

Embarrassing.

That’ll be the same word we come back to for a while.

[crazznewt]

This program cant afford to lose good players during this rebuilding phase. I hope they get the ship righted soon. (Check private message)

[Bballfan]

Coaching turnover hurts recruiting, and between Miller and Eagan leaving a lot of committed players have opted to leave before ever starting school at Drury..

It is also become more and more difficult to keep players out of the portal and leaping up to D1. Central Missouri lost two starters to D1. Just reality of college athletics today.

[crazznewt]

Coaching turnover hurts recruiting, and between Miller and Eagan leaving a lot of committed players have opted to leave before ever starting school at Drury..

It is also become more and more difficult to keep players out of the portal and leaping up to D1. Central Missouri lost two starters to D1. Just reality of college athletics today.

This is true! Though Miller left the program in MUCH better shape than Eagan did.

Three Lady Panther freshmen played the bulk of the minutes in a win over a good Evangel squad at the Pro-Am last night, while Drury's best three players watched from the bench. Those players played in the second game, a 54-27 win over a high level AAU team.

The Lady Panther's team speed and pressure defense will be much improved. With the additional recruits who will be announced in August, this looks to be a better deeper team.

Also in the Pro-Am, the Central High School Boys soundly defeated the Southwest Baptist Men.