Drury Panthers

[TSU_Mike59]

If Truman has underachieved this season IMO. Although, their ball movement was impressive in their win against the radio Flyers, proving Truman has enough talent to win if they can squeeze into the top eight. Jordan Cunningham is a candidate for league MVP IMO. At 6' she covers a lot of space and impacts the game in several areas.

Been a tough two years for Theo. Lost both starting guards after the 22-23 season as Belanger used her final year at Iowa State and Stugart transferred to Maryville to be closer to home, and the grad transfers he had to rush in just never panned out.

Then this year he loses a 3-year 6’2” post who had 75 games played just five games in and a redshirt freshman 5’11” swing player also just a few games in. Both were being counted on as part of the 8-9 player rotation. Just has felt disjointed all season since. They’ve played a tough schedule in league play though so hopefully a more manageable stretch is ahead.

[GLVCBall1985]

Gritty win for the girls, huge win for the men!
Exciting things happening at the O last night. Good to see the girls get put in situations where they need to find ways to win.
On the men’s side, so good to see Logan Applegate have one of those games we’ve been waiting for since early last year.

[Bballfan]

Saw Drury women lost a close one to Lewis. The refs must have been calling everything given all the free throws I saw Lewis shot. That is crazy.

For Drury to make the tournament, they most likely will need to win out (including the GLVC tournament).

[TSU_Mike59]

The past two Drury WBB coaches-
Molly Miller — Grand Canyon is 21-2, 8-0 in the WAC and a #13 seed in ESPN’s latest WBB bracketology.

Amy Eagan — Lindenwood is 14-7, 10-2 in the OVC and tied atop the conference. Still NCAA ineligible for another year, but has gone from 2 wins the year before she started to 7 last year and now 14 this year with a young roster. Nine of the team’s top 10 scorers are sophomores or freshmen.

[Bballfan]

I am sort of surprised Molly hasn't taken the next step. Robin Fralich went from Ashland to Bowling Green to Michigan State pretty quickly. Kim Caldwell (Stephens) did it even faster! She went from Glenville State to Marshall to Tennessee in three years! Now that is two former top D2 coaches that are coaching at Power 4 schools with top 25 programs. Molly could be right with them I would think if she wanted.

[Basketballmom22]

I am sort of surprised Molly hasn't taken the next step. Robin Fralich went from Ashland to Bowling Green to Michigan State pretty quickly. Kim Caldwell (Stephens) did it even faster! She went from Glenville State to Marshall to Tennessee in three years! Now that is two former top D2 coaches that are coaching at Power 4 schools with top 25 programs. Molly could be right with them I would think if she wanted.

I would assume Molly is a front runner for the Mizzou job. She was a finalist for previous jobs, but for various reasons did not get them. I am assuming that Baylor is regretting the fact that they did not hire her. I would also think she would have a shot at Arkansas if it comes open this Spring. I do think she is really smart and waiting for the right move in regards to NIL , etc.
Although Coach Eagan is only in year two as a D1coach, I look for her to make a move at some as well. It seems the last couple of years coaches are making moves quicker than in the past. To see what she has done with Lindenwood With zero NIL and In a transition period Is extremely impressive.
I definitely see both women making a jump and being successful.

[Bballfan]

Yea Lindenwood wasn't even that good in D2. So good job by her.

NIL in women's basketball isn't quite the thing at most schools except for the upper echelon. Even at some schools in the Big Ten, it is nothing compared to what the men's players are given. Of course if female athletes work it right, they can make more than men. Female influencers in general do more than their male counterparts. But you have to be a celebrity in addition to being an athlete. Still, some women know how to work the system for sure.

[TSU_Mike59]

Agreed - I would think Molly has to be high on the potential candidate list if/when Pingeton is let go at Mizzou.

For Amy, if she can keep the kids she’s brought in the past two years, they’ll hit NCAA eligibility right as that big crew are juniors and seniors. Perfect time to make the tourney then make a leap. Although, she’s spent her whole life in the small area of Iowa and Missouri. So I’m not sure whether she has aspirations to move beyond that footprint.

[Bballfan]

Back to Drury women. Two major road tests for them this week. This will make or break the regular season. I could see them winning at Truman, but Quincy has really been playing well as of late.

If Drury drops both I don't see any way into the NCAA tournament unless they win the conference tournament. When's the last time they didn't make the tournament? I know 2013 for sure.

[crazznewt]

Lady Panther teams have always heavily featured local talent. This was a big reason the Lady Panthers would average 1800 fans a game. Is Drury trending away from this approach? I'm reminded of a comment from basketballmom.

Former Lady Panther Paige Robinson is one of the top players in Germany. Over 18 games (last game 2/1/25), she has averaged 34.6 minutes, 19.3 points (high of 33), 48.8 fg%, 6.6 rebounds (high of 18), 36.8 % 3 pt. There is a picture of her as one of four "National Team Selection"(s) from Germany, Uganda, Slovakia and the Netherlands. The WNBA season starts May 16. Maybe we will see Paige on national TV then.

Also, former Lady Panther Reese Schaaf leads the MIAA with 11 double doubles.

[Basketballmom22]

Lady Panther teams have always heavily featured local talent. This was a big reason the Lady Panthers would average 1800 fans a game. Is Drury trending away from this approach? I'm reminded of a comment from basketballmom.

Former Lady Panther Paige Robinson is one of the top players in Germany. Over 18 games (last game 2/1/25), she has averaged 34.6 minutes, 19.3 points (high of 33), 48.8 fg%, 6.6 rebounds (high of 18), 36.8 % 3 pt. There is a picture of her as one of four "National Team Selection"(s) from Germany, Uganda, Slovakia and the Netherlands. The WNBA season starts May 16. Maybe we will see Paige on national TV then.

Also, former Lady Panther Reese Schaaf leads the MIAA with 11 double doubles.

I think the answer to this is two fold. 1- talent in the area is way down for girls basketball. Not sure if it’s volleyball taking over, several long standing coaches getting out of this area, or numbers across the board in general. The Pink and White lacked talent and a plethora of “big players” making waves. 2- Drury has lost some its appeal to high school girls. It’s no longer “Mecca” in their eyes. Hopefully both can change and rebound to see some local names playing in Oreily soon. Hitt and Brooks are done after this year. Gibbons is close behind. I have not seen any local kids posting commitments to Drury on social media, But I definitely could have missed them.

Maybe Coach Bailey it’s not interested in local talent. The Pilley kid from Kickapoo signed a full scholarship with Fort Hayes. Had several other D2 offers. However, Drury never recruited her. Never offered her. To me that is alarming to have a Kickapoo kid who has played in multiple state title games, All-Conference , All-district, and All-State Honors and Drury doesn’t recruit them??

[crazznewt]

I think the answer to this is two fold. 1- talent in the area is way down for girls basketball. Not sure if it’s volleyball taking over, several long standing coaches getting out of this area, or numbers across the board in general. The Pink and White lacked talent and a plethora of “big players” making waves. 2- Drury has lost some its appeal to high school girls. It’s no longer “Mecca” in their eyes. Hopefully both can change and rebound to see some local names playing in Oreily soon. Hitt and Brooks are done after this year. Gibbons is close behind. I have not seen any local kids posting commitments to Drury on social media, But I definitely could have missed them.

Maybe Coach Bailey it’s not interested in local talent. The Pilley kid from Kickapoo signed a full scholarship with Fort Hayes. Had several other D2 offers. However, Drury never recruited her. Never offered her. To me that is alarming to have a Kickapoo kid who has played in multiple state title games, All-Conference , All-district, and All-State Honors and Drury doesn’t recruit them??

This is comparing apples to oranges, but Springfield's Mission University women's program has 10 players who played high school basketball within a 50 mile radius from Springfield. This program is trending up. They soundly defeated Evangel to open the Valor's new arena and have several good wins this season at the admittedly lower NAIA level.

The Lady Panthers had match up problems against the Patriots in the summer league and escaped with close wins. Other than the name change (formerly Baptist Bible College), nothing has changed for the East Kearney Street school that is about a mile north of Drury.

I know the family of one player on the Mission roster and was surprised a player of that caliber ended up there..............................

[crazznewt]

Edit for clarity:
Chris Foster has 44 wins out of 103 games coached at Drury for a 43% win percentage. This is the worst overall winning percentage by a Drury basketball coach in history by my research.

Gary Stanfield had 2 losing seasons in 13 years of coaching at Drury. (approximately 43% wins during those 2 years). Those two seasons were the result of a rash of injuries. He turned it around with a 24 and 8 final season and made it to the regional final and a close loss. His rosters had a 100% graduation rate all 13 years. He was pushed out the door.


Skip Shear was showed the door after a 16-14 record in 1980...his only season

Thoughts?

[crazznewt]

Funny how matchups work. In a 2 week span Truman Women beat Lewis by 9 at Pershing, Lewis beat Drury by 2 at O'Reilly, then Drury beat Truman last night by 24 at Pershing. The latter game Drury played subs the whole fourth quarter.
Kaci had a great game plan that prevented Truman's trap defense from being effective. Makaiya Brooks put on a show by hitting 6 three pointers, many of which were 25 feet plus. Her release is one of the quickest the GLVC has seen in recent history. It's good to see her in better shape after physical setbacks the last couple of years. Anna Hitt also was impressive with her usual speed. She also had a couple of strong highlight reel finishes at the rim. Hopefully this momentum can carry over to Saturday against a deeper and stronger team.

[Basketballmom22]

"We had a great effort in the second half to come from 12 down to take the lead, but we couldn't get multiple stops in a row (in overtime)," said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey. "It's really hard when you have three or four players foul out and they didn't have any foul out. But T=there were a lot of little things we didn't take care of.”

Down 12 at half…the excuses and blaming officials for losses not a good look. Can’t imagine how hard it is to get beat by a school you left; however can’t say anyone is surprised. Boyd is the coach Drury should have hired instead of Bailey. But we all know she wasn’t Nylas puppet.