Drake

Butler Knocks Off Drake in Opener

Press Release — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:51:17 -0500

DES MOINES, IOWA - Butler held Drake to just 31.1 percent shooting from the floor to spoil the head coaching debut of Mark Phelps en route to a 58-48 victory in the season opener for both teams.

It was a rematch of the classic 2008 ESPNU Bracket Busters game which pitted then No. 16 ranked Drake at then No. 8 ranked Butler.

In a game which saw 15 lead changes, Drake came away with a 71-64 victory last Feb. 28 en route to finishing the season with a school-record 28-5 mark. Butler posted a 30-4 mark in 2007-08 while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"We had our frustrations on the offensive end," said Phelps. "Butler was physically tough and made more plays than we did."

Butler scored 12 unanswered points to turn a 5-4 lead into a 17-4 advantage with 10:22 left in the first half and never looked back.

Drake made just five of 22 shots in the first half to trail 25-14 at intermission.

Junior All-Missouri Valley Conference guard Josh Young, who scored a career-high 25 at Butler, continued his torrid shooting against the Bulldogs by netting a game-high 19 points.

But the other members of Drake's starting unit - Brent Heemkserk, Adam Templeton, Jonathan Cox and Craig Stanley - combined for just 16 points.

"We need more than one double-digit scorer besides Josh Young," Phelps added. "We simply didn't play well. We need improvement across the board."

Drake surpassed its entire first half scoring total in the opening 9 minutes eight seconds of the second half.

Two free throws by reserve senior forward John Michael Hall pulled Drake within 34-29 with 11:52 remaining.

But Butler built the lead back to double digits with a 12-5 run fueled by five points from freshman forward Gordon Hayward to enjoy a 46-35 advantage.

Drake whittled the deficit down to six points twice in the last 3:15.

A three-point basket by Young with 1:03 left pulled Drake within 52-46. But sophomore forward Matt Howard, the lone returning starter for Butler, scored four of his team's last six points to seal the victory.

"We couldn't get over the hump in the second half due to our inability to get good shots," Phelps added.

Cox finished with seven points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for Drake.

Heemskerk tied a career high with nine rebounds for Drake. Heemskerk, Young and senior guard Jacob Baryenbruch had two steals apiece for Drake.

- Drake Media Relations

Missouri Valley Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:42:29 -0500

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Conference Rank: 9th

10 year average: 9th

MVC Conference Page

All-MVC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Bryan Mullins	So. Illinois	Sr
G	Osiris Eldridge	Illinois St	Jr
G	Josh Young	Drake	Jr
G	P'Allen Stinnett	Creighton	So
F	Jonathan Cox	Drake	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
High-Major All-Americans Jonathan Cox Osiris Eldridge Bryan Mullins P'Allen Stinnett Josh Young		Points: Josh Young 15.9 Rebounds: Jonathan Cox 8.5 Assists: Bryan Mullins 5.0

MVC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

24	Creighton	MVC	1	NCAA
43	Southern Illinois	MVC	2	NCAA
56	Drake**	MVC	3	NIT
64	Bradley	MVC	4	NIT
82	Illinois State	MVC	5	NIT
110	Indiana State	MVC	6
134	Wichita State	MVC	7
161	Northern Iowa	MVC	8
198	Evansville	MVC	9
211	Missouri State	MVC	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MVC?

Other MVC Content

Head Coach Q&A's

Tim Jankovich: Illinois State

Conference Media Poll

Creighton Top Media Poll

Other

How Many MVC Teams Will Make the Tourney?

Rise & Fall: MVC

MVC/MWC Challenge Announced

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the MVC?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:05:39 -0400

MVC Media Poll: Creighton Favored

Press Release — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:20:26 -0400

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men¹s basketball team is the near-unanimous pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the preseason poll announced today during the league¹s annual Basketball Media Day. Creighton earned 36 of 39 first-place votes in the survey of league coaches, beat writers, sports information directors and play-by-play men.

Pollsters have accurately predicted the league¹s regular-season champ only 10 times out of 24 since 1985-86, but Bluejay fans can take solace knowing that 21 of those 24 predicted champs have gone on to postseason play, with 15 of those 21 playing in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second time in three years that Creighton has been picked to win The Valley, and league-high seventh time overall since the preseason poll began in 1985-86. Creighton won the regular-season title in two of their previous six runs as favorite (1990-91 and 2000-01) and finished in second place the other four times (1989-90, 1998-99. 2002-03. 2006-07).

The preseason poll doesn¹t always match the year-end standings. Last year¹s poll forecasted Drake to finish ninth in the MVC. The Bulldogs proved everyone wrong, going 28-5 and winning the Valley regular-season title by two games over an Illinois State team tabbed fifth in the preseason.

Creighton collected 36 first-place votes and earned 386 of a maximum 390 points in the preseason poll. Southern Illinois grabbed two first-place votes and was second with 322 points, just ahead of Illinois State, which had 309 points and garnered the remaining first-place vote. Defending league
regular-season and tournament champion Drake was fourth with 274 points, its best preseason pick the 1991-92 season. Bradley was fifth with 219 points while UNI was sixth with 186 points. Rounding out the bottom four teams were Indiana State (137), Evansville (122), Wichita State (105) and Missouri State (85).

2008-09 MVC Preseason Poll

Rk. School (1st place votes) Total
1. Creighton (36) 386
2. Southern Illinois (2) 322
3. Illinois State (1) 309
4. Drake 274
5. Bradley 219
6. Northern Iowa 186
7. Indiana State 137
8. Evansville 122
9. Wichita State 105
10. Missouri State 85

Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors and media.

Preseason All-MVC Team

Jonathan Cox, Sr., F, Drake
Osiris Eldridge*, Jr., G, Illinois State
Bryan Mullins, Sr., G, Southern Illinois
P¹Allen Stinnett, So., G, Creighton
Josh Young, Jr., G, Drake
*Preseason Player of the Year

Honorable Mention:
Shy Ely (Evansville)
Jason Holsinger (Evansville)
Andrew Warren (Bradley)
Theron Wilson (Bradley)

2008-09 Drake Basketball Preview: #56

Joel Welser — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:47:19 -0400

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Drake Bulldogs

Overall Rank: #56

Conference Rank: #3 Missouri Valley

2007-08: 28-5, 15-3, 1^st

2007-08 postseason: NCAA

The 2007-2008 season was magical for the Bulldogs of Drake. Coach Keno Davis parlayed that success into a head coaching job in the Big East and Drake was forced to find a new head man. They ended up with Coach Mark Phelps, a former assistant at North Carolina State who will bring his brand of the Princeton offense to Des Moines, Iowa. More important than any changes in philosophy is the change in player personnel.

Who’s Out:

Adam Emmenecker won the Valley Player of the Year award last season and was the catalyst behind Drake’s amazing season. The point guard tallied 8.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest and finding a new point guard is the main issue facing Coach Phelps. Starters Leonard Houston and Klayton Korver have also run out of eligibility. Both were decent three-point shooters and averaged over ten points per game. Little used Tyson Dirks is also not returning this season.

Who’s In:

Replacing that productive trio will not be easy, but the Bulldogs have some experienced newcomers who are ready to make an impact. Adam Templeton was named to the Big West All-Freshman team in 2005-2006 and averaged 8.0 points and 3.9 rebounds the following season before transferring to Drake. The sharpshooter will help replace the shooting production of Houston and Korver. The search for a point guard could end with junior college transfer Craig Stanley. The 5-11 junior will need to work on his shooting consistency, but as long as he can handle the ball, he will be a vital asset to Drake. Transfer Brett Spiker and incoming freshman Sean Jones will provide some depth to the frontcourt. Jones, at 6-11, has nice size, but he will need some time to gain strength and get used to playing the level of competition he will see in the MVC.

Who to Watch:

If he has not already, Josh Young will give opposing coaches, players and fans nightmares this season. The 6-1 junior knocked down nearly three shots per game from beyond the arc and hit 43.4 percent of his attempts last season. He might be asked to do even more this time around. But it is not like Young just takes three-pointers. He will get to basket as well and made over four trips to the charity stripe per contest, ranking second to only Emmenecker on the team. Speaking of Emmenecker, Josh Parker will join Stanley in attempting to replace the point guard. Parker, who only averaged seven minutes per contest as a freshman, has plenty of talent and potential, but he will have to quickly step out of Emmenecker’s shadow if he wants to be successful. Jacob Baryenbruch is a smart player and could earn more playing time this year if his shot starts falling.

Final Projection:

Last year it was basically four guards and Jonathan Cox. That worked with the 6-8 Korver playing at the four spot, but can the 6-5 Templeton play there? He is a better rebounder than Korver, but his size might make the team a little too small. Either way, Cox will be on the floor after averaging 12.3 points and 8.5 rebounds last season. Brent Heemskerk could start beside Cox. The 6-8 senior is a good scorer in the paint and will grab plenty of rebounds and block plenty of shots. His minutes were limited last year and some of that is due to his knack for picking up fouls. If Heemskerk does play 25 or 30 minutes per game, he will have to learn to stay out of foul trouble. No matter who starts and at what position, Drake has talent and options. The most important position is at point guard. Nobody will be like Emmenecker, but somebody needs to at least be a consistent ball handler or the magic of Drake will end as quickly as it began.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Projected Starting Five:

Josh Parker, Sophomore, Guard, 2.1 points per game

Josh Young, Junior, Guard, 15.9 points per game

Adam Templeton, Junior, Guard, DNP last season

Jonathan Cox, Senior, Forward, 12.3 points per game

Brent Heemskerk, Senior, Forward, 4.7 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2008-09 Preview & Awards | Coach Interviews | Discuss the Preview

State of '08: Iowa

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:36:12 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Iowa. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

IOWA

IOWA - It remains to be seen what type of success Todd Lickliter will have at Iowa, but this is still the state's premier program. From 2001 to 2006, Iowa made 6 straight postseason trips under Steve Alford, though fans were disappointed with just one NCAA Tourney win in that period. Certainly Drake was the state's top team last year, and UNI was the best the previous few seasons, but Iowa is consistently solid and has never had the lean years of its in-state rivals.

NORTHERN IOWA - Greg McDermott worked some magic at UNI, leading the Panthers to three straight tourneys from 2004 to 2006. But McDermott jumped ship for a bigger contract, and the program is still in transition under Ben Jacobson. He's managed to keep the ship afloat, going 18-18 in MVC games, but the future is a bit murky. UNI has also lost 4-straight games to rival Drake.

IOWA STATE - It took McDermott three years to turn around UNI, so Cyclones fans are hoping he can repeat that success in his 3rd season at ISU. It seems unlikely though that the Cyclones will sniff the postseason, as there's just not much talent on the roster. In the last seven years, Iowa State's made just one NCAA Tournament trip and has consistently finished in the bottom half of the Big 12. A lot is riding on this year's deep recruiting class.

DRAKE - The Bulldogs pulled off one of the all-time great turnaround seasons last year. In his first season, Keno Davis (is he a coaching genius or just lucky?) led Drake to a 28-5 record, the NCAA Tournament, a Top 10 RPI, and an MVC title. But this is a program that hadn't made the Big Dance since 1971, and hadn't finished above .500 in MVC play in the prior 22 seasons. Until the program proves last year wasn't just a fluke, they remain in the cellar.

Last: Indiana - Next: Kentucky

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Drake Basketball Preview: 2008-09

Press Release — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:08:06 -0400

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2008-09 Drake Bulldogs Men’s Basketball Schedule

Date Opponent Site Time

Sat., Nov. 1 Truman State at Drake (EX) Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Sun., Nov. 9 Arkansas Tech at Drake (EX) Des Moines, Iowa 2:05 PM

Sat., Nov. 15 Butler at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Cancun Challenge

Wed., Nov. 19 Morehead State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 23 South Dakota State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 2:05 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 29 Drake vs. Vanderbilt Cancun, Mexico TBD

Sun., Nov. 30 Drake vs. VCU or New Mexico Cancun, Mexico TBD

Wed., Dec. 3 Lincoln at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Drake/Iowa Realty Tournament

Fri., Dec. 5 Drake vs. NCCentral Des Moines, Iowa 7:30 PM

Sat., Dec. 6 Drake vs. Furman/UTPA Des Moines, Iowa 7:30 PM

Tues., Dec. 9 Drake at Iowa State Ames, Iowa 8:05 PM

Drake Invitational

Fri., Dec. 12 Drake vs. Georgia Southern Des Moines, Iowa 7:30 PM

Sat., Dec. 13 Drake vs. NDSU/SFA Des Moines, Iowa 7:30 PM

Sat., Dec. 20 Iowa at Drake Des Moines, Iowa TBD

Sun., Dec. 28 *Drake at Evansville Evansville, Ind. 2:05 PM

Wed., Dec. 31 *Missouri State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 2:05 PM

Sun., Jan. 4 *Drake at Southern Illinois Carbondale, Ill. 6:05 PM

Wed., Jan. 7 *Indiana State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Sun., Jan. 11 *Wichita State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 6:05 PM

Wed., Jan. 14 *Drake at Illinois State Normal, Ill. 7:05 PM

Sat., Jan. 17 *Northern Iowa at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 11:05 AM

Wed., Jan. 21 *Drake at Missouri State Springfield, Mo. 7:05 PM

Sat., Jan. 24 *Drake at Creighton Omaha, Neb. TBD

Wed., Jan. 28 *Evansville at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Sat., Jan. 31 *Drake at Wichita State Wichita, Kan. 7:05 PM

Wed., Feb. 4 *Creighton at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Sat., Feb. 7 *Bradley at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 PM

Wed., Feb. 11 *Drake at Indiana State Terre Haute, Ind. 6:05 PM

Sun., Feb. 15 *Illinois State at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 6:05 PM

Wed., Feb. 18 *Drake at Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa 7:05 PM

Sat., Feb. 21 ESPNU BracketBusters at Drake Des Moines, Iowa TBD

Wed., Feb. 25 *Southern Illinois at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:35 PM

Sat., Feb. 28 *Drake at Bradley Peoria, Ill. 7:05 PM

March 5-8 State Farm MVC Tournament St. Louis, Mo. TBD

*Missouri Valley Conference games

2008 CollegeHoops.net Program & Conference of the Year

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:18:53 -0400

After a lengthy run of individual awards, we finally reach CHN's program and conference awards. As always, CHN writers voted for the best of the best:

CollegeHoops.net Program of the Year: Drake

By now, Drake’s surprise success has been discussed many times over. The 28-5 record, the MVC Championship, the Top 25 Ranking. The unknown players like Adam Emmenecker turning in all-star seasons, and a first year coach earning National Coach of the Year plaudits. But every time you read about the success of Keno Davis’s squad, the more shocking it truly seems.

Here at CHN, we pride ourselves on our top quality season preview and preseason rankings. Yet when it came to Drake, like everyone else, we were completely wrong. 165^th place was our prediction.. and we were only about 140 places off. In fact, Drake was projected to be 85 places worse than the 2^nd lowest team (Western Kentucky) that ended up in our Final Top 40. For shocking CHN’s experts and college basketball nation, Drake is a worthy program of the year.

Runner Up: Texas

After losing NBA All-Rookie performer Kevin Durant to the Draft, many thought that the Longhorns would regress. But instead, Rick Barnes led Texas to a record 31 win season as well as their 3^rd Elite Eight trip of the last six years. Amazingly, not one major contributor from the co-Big 12 champion is a senior, and the program’s continued success seems like a lock.

CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major Program of the Year: Davidson

Davidson was arguably the national Program of the Year due to their amazing Elite Eight tournament run, but their success wasn’t nearly as surprising as Drake’s. After losing some close games to major Top 10 powers like UNC and UCLA, the Wildcats bounced back to utterly dominate the Southern Conference. They won all 20 league games, and swept the conference tournament with an average margin of victory of 26 points. Their overall 25-game winning streak was the best in the nation, and helped Coach Bob McKillop and star guard Stephen Curry amass some impressive hardware. More impressive than their 29-7 record or any individual’s numbers is the way they captivated the country by letting it all out during the NCAA Tournament.

Runner Up: South Alabama

The Jaguars had an impressive season this culminated in at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This was the first time in 14 years that a Sun Belt team had received at-large consideration. Their 26-7 overall record included two wins over Sweet Sixteen team (and conference rival) Western Kentucky, as well as tournament squads Mississippi State and San Diego. Coach Ronnie Arrow won Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, returning to a position he once held 13 years ago.

CollegeHoops.net Conference of the Year: Pac-10

Simply put, no league offered more exciting individual and team matchups than the Pac-10 on a weekly basis. With the exception of Oregon State, every team in the league was capable of beating every other team.. and this overall depth of talent lead to an amazing 9 postseason bids for the 10 team league.

At the team level, UCLA was the true class of the league leading the way with a 16-2 record. The Bruins were led by Kevin Love, just one of many potential NBA lottery picks scattered throughout league rosters. Brook Lopez, OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, Ryan Anderson and others lit up the scoreboards on a nightly basis.

Overall, the Pac-10 ended up 2^nd in RPI to the ACC, but the league members led the country with an amazing .798 out-of-conference winning %. This is even more impressive when you consider that as recently as 2004, the Pac-10 was 9^th in overall RPI. With big time coaches and big time programs, there’s no reason not to expect another great Pac-10 run next year.

Runner Up: Atlantic 10

This was somewhat of a renaissance season for the A10, as the league finished 7^th in overall RPI, easily its best season in a decade. Conference leader Xavier made an impressive run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, and they were joined in the Big Dance by conference tournament winner Temple and St. Joseph’s. Even more impressively, the league had great depth as teams like Dayton, UMASS, and URI all made strong claims to Top 25 consideration at one point or another.

Check out all the: CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more

2008 CollegeHoops.net Coach of the Year Awards

CHN — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:32:20 -0400

CollegeHoops.net Coach of the Year: Keno Davis (Drake)

In the category of “first year coaches taking over for their father’s somewhat struggling program”, Tony Bennett’s 2006-07 campaign seemed to be as good as it got. Bennett took over for his father Dick, and won 26 games while finishing 2^nd in the Pac-10. However, Keno Davis took things to new levels this year when he led the Drake Bulldogs to a shocking 28-5 record and an MVC Championship. Not since 1971 had Drake won 20 games, and it was that same season the program last made the NCAA Tournament. Thirty seven lean years later Drake was back in the Big Dance, and would have advanced to the Second Round if not for WKU’s last second prayer. Davis was handed a bunch of relatively unknown players like Adam Emmenecker and turned them into stars. Who knows what kind of success awaits Davis in the future, but Bulldog nation couldn’t be happier with what they’ve got.

Runner Up: Matt Painter (Purdue)

Last Year: Tony Bennett (Washington State)

CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major Coach of the Year: Bob McKillop (Davidson)

The general public might not have been aware of Bob McKillop’s Wildcats until this season’s magical Elite Eight run. But those in college basketball circles have known for years that Davidson has done nothing but win under his reign. In 12 of the last 13 seasons, McKillop’s Cats have finished either 1^st or 2^nd in their Southern Conference division. In that same period, he’s led Davidson to 5 NCAA Tournaments, 7 postseason bids, and 7 twenty wins seasons. Not bad considering when McKillop took over 18 years ago, the program was reeling to the tune of a 4-24 record. But this year’s Mid-Major Coach of the Year award is not about career success, but an outstanding 29 win season that included 25 straight over a four month period. With a little help from friends Stephen Curry and Jason Richards, the Wildcats blazed an impressive NCAA Tournament trail, knocking off three big name programs along the way, and winning over the hearts of the American public.

Runner Up: Darrin Horn (Western Kentucky)

Last Year: Gregg Marshall (Winthrop)

Check out all the: CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more!

Poll: Who Had the Most Disappointing Early Exit?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:14:41 -0400