Vanderbilt hires Bryce Drew as new head-coach

Vanderbilt has hired Bryce Drew as head men’s basketball coach, Athletic Director David Williams announced on Wednesday. Drew becomes the ninth Commodore basketball coach of the modern era and 27th all time.

“Our goal was to identify a proven head coach capable of exciting Commodore Nation and perhaps most importantly, able to mirror Vanderbilt’s values and aspirations,” said Williams. “With Bryce Drew we were able to check all those boxes. We are thrilled to welcome Coach Drew and his family to the Vanderbilt community and the great city of Nashville.”

Drew, a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year and two-time NABC District 12 Coach of the Year, comes to the Commodores after a five-year stint at Valparaiso, where he averaged 25 wins a season, won four regular season championships, and made four postseason appearances, two in the NCAA Tournament and two in the NIT, with the Crusaders.

In his five seasons at Valparaiso, Drew compiled a 124-49 overall record and in 2016, led the Crusaders to a 30-7 overall record, the most wins in program history, and a berth in the NIT Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

He also coached 15 All-Horizon League honorees, including one Horizon League Player of the Year in Ryan Broekhoff in 2012 and one player, Vashil Fernandez, who in 2015 and 2016 won the Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Year honor, the first player in the history of the league to win two of the awards.