Drury Panthers

[DUPanther]

Also looks like Drury transfer Elijah Whitley will end up at D1 UMKC. Also looks like several Quincy Hawks are in the portal. Good luck being consistently good in the D2 ranks anymore.

Is Elijah in the transfer portal? I haven't seen his name there.

He has some things to figure out. Hoping he would get it done here, but if he's leaving good luck to him elsewhere.

[crazznewt]

Is Elijah in the transfer portal? I haven't seen his name there.

He has some things to figure out. Hoping he would get it done here, but if he's leaving good luck to him elsewhere.

There are times Im restricted to sitting on my butt giving me too much time to play on my phone. I have been getting bits of information off of certain basketball sites until these fade out and ask for money. I know I saw Elijah and UMKC in the same sentence, I just cant find it again. I'll have time tomorrow to look up more useless information.

Molly Miller is the most sought after free agent coach in America right now. "Internet sensation" and "stunning" are being thrown around in cyber world. Now Arizona State appears to be heavily in the mix. I hope she goes to Arkansas to start the women's version of Nolan Richardson's "forty minutes of h***.

[Bballfan]

There are times Im restricted to sitting on my butt giving me too much time to play on my phone. I have been getting bits of information off of certain basketball sites until these fade out and ask for money. I know I saw Elijah and UMKC in the same sentence, I just cant find it again. I'll have time tomorrow to look up more useless information.

Molly Miller is the most sought after free agent coach in America right now. "Internet sensation" and "stunning" are being thrown around in cyber world. Now Arizona State appears to be heavily in the mix. I hope she goes to Arkansas to start the women's version of Nolan Richardson's "forty minutes of h***.

Not because of her coaching ability.....which I think is very good.... but I assume this is what you were referring to.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/sports...rnet-by-storm/

[crazznewt]

Not because of her coaching ability.....which I think is very good.... but I assume this is what you were referring to.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/sports...rnet-by-storm/

Surely you are not discounting the first sentence in my post above. The adjectives are plentiful in the media concerning her. Great coach is the main one.

[Bballfan]

Sure. Just like Livy Dunne is a great gymnast.

You don't get national articles about how great a mid-major women's coach is unless there is something beyond just coaching. Sadly.

[crazznewt]

Sure. Just like Livy Dunne is a great gymnast.

You don't get national articles about how great a mid-major women's coach is unless there is something beyond just coaching. Sadly.

As a mid major coach, you don't appear on several major college short lists by just being pretty either.

[Bballfan]

Not sure if she tried at Missouri, but not going there. That's a tough spot at Missouri though. Have to deal with Texas, LSU, South Carolina, and Tennessee on a yearly basis.

[crazznewt]

Not sure if she tried at Missouri, but not going there. That's a tough spot at Missouri though. Have to deal with Texas, LSU, South Carolina, and Tennessee on a yearly basis.

I've followed media in Columbia, Fayetteville, Phoenix, etc for a while now. Sounds like she ruled Mizzou out. Competition wouldnt matter. She has proven she will win wherever she goes and do it in a spectacular fashion.

I heard her parents bought a winter house in Phoenix after Molly took the position at Grand Canyon. I speculate if she does leave Arizona she will end up at Arkansas.

Looks like Maryville lost Katey Flynn to the portal.

[Bballfan]

Competition wouldnt matter. She has proven she will win wherever she goes and do it in a spectacular fashion.

That's laughable. She would not turn Missouri into a national power. Maybe in the old days. But not in the "pay to play era". Missouri doesn't have the money or the resources to compete with the deep pockets of other SEC schools. Same if she goes to Arkansas. Unfortunately, in this era where money is driving everything to lure in the top players, good luck.

Arizona State would be a decent landing spot. Can see having good success there.

[crazznewt]

That's laughable. She would not turn Missouri into a national power. Maybe in the old days. But not in the "pay to play era". Missouri doesn't have the money or the resources to compete with the deep pockets of other SEC schools. Same if she goes to Arkansas. Unfortunately, in this era where money is driving everything to lure in the top players, good luck.

Arizona State would be a decent landing spot. Can see having good success there.

My quote: "She has proven she will win wherever she goes and do it in spectacular fashion"

Her high school and college combined record as a player was 221-28. Two state championships and four trips to the national tournament. All state and all american honors. Valedictorian of the largest high school in Springfield. Never coached at the high school level. Recruited players who ultimately led the nation with more than 1100 forced turnovers in one season and players that finished 1-2-3 in steals per game nationally. Finished at Drury with a 180-17 record and was a two time national coach of the year. Taken Grand Canyon to a whole new level with a 117-37 record, 32-2 this season. Thats a combined coaching record of 297-54. Combined record as a player and coach is 518-82.
This list doesnt include all the big time victories and honors in elite tournaments and AAU.

[Pantherbooster]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

If you actually watched the games against SBU, UMSL, and S&T in the last couple weeks and still conclude that DU wasn't a good team at the end of the year, though, I'm going to question how well you know college basketball. The trend isn't down - the last few weeks of the season this team was playing better than any Drury team since the '19-20' squad (which was Hesser's second to last year).

Same goes if you think DU's men's program wasn't at the bottom of the barrel talent-wise when Foster got here. This was the returning roster that Foster inherited:

Davis, Malek
Nwagbarachoa, Victor
Okafor, Obi
Naeger, Riley
Samuels, Myles
White, AJ
Barshow, Devon
Shelton, Quenton
Hutchinson, Asa

Show me a worse returning roster in the GLVC for the 2021-2022 season. Not here to drag players so I'm not going to name which ones, but there are only 4 good players in that entire group, and maybe 1 who would start for a good GLVC team.

I believe the players are pretty good but is it possible for the coach to be the issue. Can the coach bring the best out like the three games you mentioned for an entire season? You’re probably correct in taking a shot at my basketball knowledge. Maybe I’ve been watching a different team the last few years and simply confused myself. Coach Foster has been consistent in his Drury history. Sounds like your saying he has just had bad luck. I know I struggle to find my seat at the games with all the people I have to climb over to get to my seat-no wait- that was many years ago. Most leave after the women’s game though less and less show for them.
I am not praising or questioning Hester’s teams when he left simply not putting much into his responsibility to stock up the team he is leaving. Coach Foster is responsible for that. You can keep carrying Fosters water with those magical glasses you must be wearing. IMO of course but this experiment should be concluded. Sounds like you would give him an extension and a raise. Anyway I will move on with my lack of knowledge to baseball season.

[crazznewt]

There are a lot of good people who have invested a lot in these programs and I sympathize. I want to agree with DU Panther, but I cant. I agree with booster. How many years does Foster get? I have been a big Panther fan since 1977, but have been so disappointed with the repeated lopsided losses that I have lost interest, like hundreds of others.

However, I stand by my earlier statement that Kaci and staff covered their team's weaknesses all season. The Ladies had a decent season and were fun to watch. This, despite being undersized and having to start four guards due to a serious lack of depth.

Anyone who has ever played the game knows the best players spend more time working on their game during the off season and less time at the lake or the party. It's obvious who has that work ethic and who doesn't. A player's job is to come onto the court at the beginning of the season with their fundamental skills and individual conditioning at the highest level. This includes proper shooting mechanics and the ability to make the simplest shots. Free throws and more than just layups for example. Being able to guard someone without constantly needing help is another. This isn't high school. If these skills are not present in all your best players at the beginning of the season, your team is behind already. Because of these deficiencies, four players and a chair could have guarded the Lady Panthers at times last season (the chair at the right block).


Bailey has her best recruiting class coming in next season to hopefully join a handful of talented returners. I'm especially excited to watch the continued development of Kaylee King, Rhi Gibbons, and Sara Mendal. Praying the portal works in Drury's favor.

[Bballfan]

Current and former Drury players got well deserved All-American recognition....

WBCA announces NCAA Division II honorees for 2024-25 season - WBCA

Still can't believe Schaaf didn't get first team all-conference, but a lot of that is politics. Congrats to all!

[crazznewt]

The Arizona Republic reports Molly Miller is the next head coach at Arizona State University.

[DUPanther]

I believe the players are pretty good but is it possible for the coach to be the issue. Can the coach bring the best out like the three games you mentioned for an entire season? You’re probably correct in taking a shot at my basketball knowledge. Maybe I’ve been watching a different team the last few years and simply confused myself. Coach Foster has been consistent in his Drury history. Sounds like your saying he has just had bad luck. I know I struggle to find my seat at the games with all the people I have to climb over to get to my seat-no wait- that was many years ago. Most leave after the women’s game though less and less show for them.
I am not praising or questioning Hester’s teams when he left simply not putting much into his responsibility to stock up the team he is leaving. Coach Foster is responsible for that. You can keep carrying Fosters water with those magical glasses you must be wearing. IMO of course but this experiment should be concluded. Sounds like you would give him an extension and a raise. Anyway I will move on with my lack of knowledge to baseball season.

If you want to show your knowledge regarding Drury University basketball, a good place to start might be learning the name of the previous coach who was the most successful in school history. It's Hesser, not Hester.

And yes, I explicitly said Coach Foster has had some bad luck. I also never said I'd give him an extension and a raise, but I wouldn't fire him either. A coaching change in today's college basketball means your whole team leaves and all the good incoming HS recruits de-commit and reopen their recruiting. You've got a coach who has already proven he can win at this level in his last 2 stops (Truman and McKendree...and both of those places were bad before he got there), and you've got some good returning players and some good signed HS recruits. The time might come when making that move is what's best for the program, but it isn't today.

Also, Drury was 2nd in the GLVC in attendance this year. Yes, I know attendance is down for Drury standards, but if you think think things couldn't get worse, I'd invite you to go to some road games and see how other teams draw. UMSL made the regional final this year and played in front of 185 per game. Take a trip to Rockhurst and let me know what you see there.