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Originally posted by crazznewt
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In is becoming increasingly difficult for private schools to compete at the D1 or D2 level. Obviously you have your exceptions like Stanford and Notre Dame, but most private D1's have little chance of staying relevant in athletics. The same can be said at the D2 level. Private schools lack the money and resources to be competitive. On one end you have Grand Valley State. They are bigger than all but three MAC D1 schools. That's a tall order for private D2 schools with less than 5000 students to keep up with.
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I'm not sure what happened at the Strafford men's "Pro-Am, but Drury wasn't represented well. It looked like they forfeited 2 games last week and didn't even play this past Sunday. All it takes is one player with a bad attitude to ruin the experience for everyone. Thankfully, the roster will be deep this season.
Looks like the 5 Drury Women had a very successful trip to Brazil, winning 4 games while representing the university well. King, Mendel and Gibbons will need to have break-out injury free seasons for Drury to compete for a conference title IMO.
Drury was the first in the conference to post basketball rosters and schedules.
I noticed Truman State Women signed several transfers to help replenish their roster in contrast to Drury signing 8 freshmen.
SBU needs a student or faculty volunteer to take over their lackluster social media sites and athletic home page. Their men lost 2 very good guards in Drew McMillan (Evangel) and Drenin Dinkins (Rockhurst). However, they have signed some interesting players, including Park Hill's Leo Gayman (yes, he is related) and a transfer fron Gannon who scored 3,619 points in high school.
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Paige Robinson is the best player for one of the best teams in Africa. She still has her main gig playing for Herner in Germany. At Drury, If she had not missed a good portion of her senior season and having to finish with a brace, she likely would have repeated as national player of the year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMsyTZku...ZpajdwZGVzdnV6 look at page 2
Some felt Paige betrayed Drury when she left for Illinois State where she earned MVC MVP of the year. She played four years at Drury fulfilling her commitment in my opinion. Would she have received the same opportunities had she not made the move? Playing in front of friends and family for her covid season was a much deserved reward for all of her work, overcoming a lot of adversity.Comment
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Of course if she stayed at Drury they most likely would have been National Champions. But hey, I guess leaving Drury was more important to her than that. Like you said she put her four years in there.Comment
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That early season 37 point game against Wisconsin on 14 of 19 from the field and 7 of 7 from three gave her national recognition after those highlights were shown on ESPN and other outlets. That had to be more satisfying than playing at Rockhurst in front of 200 Drury and 20 Rockhurst fans.Originally posted by Bballfan View PostComment
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Don't disagree. And things worked out well for her. As for Drury....they really haven't been the same since she left. But that's not all on her. The coach left too. A coach is more important than any one player.Comment
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Yep, and trying to rebuild and keep a roster during the portal and NIL wars has been a bear after that big graduating class and all of Eagan's recruits following her to Metro St Louis.Originally posted by Bballfan View PostComment
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Don't blame them either. But if they want to play for a mediocre D1 program that has no chance of competing at the highest level more power to them. I would much rather be in competition for a national championship regardless of level than be a D1 bottom feeder.Originally posted by crazznewt View PostComment
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If I'm an incoming freshman on a strict budget, $15,000 in my bank account would be hard to turn down. Hypothetically.Originally posted by Bballfan View PostComment
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I find it hard to believe bottom feeder D1 programs can offer that much to women's basketball players. I know some decent D1 schools (not Power 4 obviously) only offering $10,000/year. All the money is getting sucked up by football and mens' basketball players. And we both know those athletes can NEVER get enough money.Originally posted by crazznewt View Post
But I get your point. Do you want a little money in your pocket and do little with your college career or be a decorated winner. Thankfully there are still some athletes out there putting that above money. However it is getting harder and harder for D2 to compete for the talent. Paige Robinson or Hailey Diestelkamp might never have been at Drury for four years with the portal and NIL today. A four year commitment from elite D2 players sadly is disappearing, especially in the men's sports.Comment
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That $15,000 comment stems from a situation I witnessed almost first hand, but very true. And this sealed the deal! That is $15,000 per semester. It is crazy that a fan or supporter of a program can step up and pay the player himself.Originally posted by Bballfan View Post
It will be tough to get another player like Eafton Hill, who transfered from Wake Forest to Drury for the 2004 -2005 season. She was the only women's player I've ever seen in person pull a rebound from above the rim.
At Wake, she was on the 2001 ACC All-Freshman team and averaged 11 points and six rebounds a game
She averaged 10.2 Pts, 5.9 Reb and 1.2 Ast her junior season including double figure scoring in both games against UConn.
It was Nyla's outstanding recruiting that peaked my interest in the Lady Panthers from day one of the program's existence, starting with the recruitment of state champion Nixa High's Hope Hunt. The list of outstanding D1 transfers and recruiting wars against D1 schools is long for this program.
If the current rules were in place 25 years ago, there would be no Drury legacy of winning. Everyone has to accept that times have changed and to expect 30 wins in a season is unrealistic. I like the approach of recruiting all state level freshmen in this era of pay to play athletics. It will be fun to watch the development of this team as the season progresses. Who knows, this group might eventually bring Drury back to national prominence.
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Except if they are very good they probably just transfer. You don't see that as much on the women's side yet, but you definitely see it on the men's side. Look at how many all-conference players transfer in men's basketball and football. And they transfer to replace the lower level D1 players that get sucked up by Power 4 schools.Originally posted by crazznewt View Post
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Im really surprised that Coach Foster was able to land this good of a recruiting class. Especially a couple of the freshmen, including the rare D2 three star recruit.Originally posted by Bballfan View Post
I often sat near to Brad Pitt and family at the old Weiser Gym the year Drury won the national NAIA championship. In fact, William Pitt's name is on the floor at the O. There are lots of multi millionaires based in Springfield. I know its not sustainable, but maybe Brad or someone else can chip in some cash to help Drury retain players. Sigh, this would have been a twisted way to think not that long ago.Last edited by crazznewt; 08-07-2025, 10:42 PM.Comment
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Saw that the tallest current college women's player is Texas' 6'9" Abbie Boutilier. This has me reminiscing about the beginnings of big time women's basketball in Southwest Missouri. Even though Southwest Missouri State went to the D1 final four in the early nineties, the best player in Springfield was at another school IMO.
Evangel's 6'7" Katarzyna "Kasia" Dydek was a unique talent. Very mobile, she could shoot from anywhere on the floor and was dominant inside. She still holds the NAIA blocks record for a season at 188. She was a 3 time first team all american and led Evangel to the NAIA final four where she scored 41 points in a game.
I would regularly talk with her head coach at Evangel, Leon Neal. Leon thought Kasia's 7'2" younger sister was going to join her in Springfield at Evangel. Margo Dydek instead went straight to the WNBA as the number one draft pick and still holds the league record for career blocks. Sadly, she died at 37 years old in 2011.
Recent news reports state fundraising and freshman enrollment numbers are at high levels for Drury. I'm very encouraged by what I've seen and heard about the state of Drury Basketball going forward.Comment
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Stuck here at home waiting for another delivery and stumbled upon a documentary about 1986 NCAA All American Lenny Bias on YouTube. If Bias hadn't passed away at 22 years of age after the Celtics drafted him, the Detroit Pistons would not have won back to back championships. In fact, if not for the cocaine epidemic, the Celtics could conceivably have won 5 to 10 more championships as they lost both Bias and NBA all star Reggie Lewis to rock cocaine. Many, including myself, thought Bias was as good or better than Michael Jordan.
Cocaine was more pervasive in the basketball community in the mid eighties than people realized at the time. In Springfield, we had a major drug bust involving several local basketball players. I was solidly in the basketball community at that time and witnessed all the "partying". "Crack" wasn't in our area yet. People were freebasing. Making their own "rock" to smoke. I honestly think the athletes that died had inhaled more drug than they intended to because of their extra lung capacity.
I'm taking this further than I originally intended, but this is important as college athletes frequent the club scene and the issue is gaining increasing attention from public health officials and college sports organizations. According to the DEA, for Americans age 18-45, the leading cause of death is fentanyl overdose.
Some of the homeless in Springfield exhibit the same characteristics that's on this clip of the homeless in Philly. It's unmistakable.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL8ja...FyM3R4dXRoamI4
We better keep our borders secure.Comment
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