Arizona basketball coach: Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew among ‘best candidates’ for Wildcats
Bryce #Bryce
A lot of names are being floated around as potential successors to Sean Miller, who was fired earlier this week after 12 seasons, as the coach of the Arizona men’s basketball team.
One name on one site’s list of “best candidates” for the Wildcats coaching job really caught our eye.
Grand Canyon basketball coach Bryce Drew.
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Sporting News’ Bill Bender included the GCU coach, who recently led the Antelopes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance, in his list of nine coaches “who could entertain that high-profile job.”
He wrote of Drew: “The Drew name is hot given what Baylor accomplished this season, and Bryce led Grand Canyon to an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Antelopes did that with a stifling defense that allowed 62.1 points per game. Drew was 40-59 in three seasons at Vanderbilt, but there are more resources to work with at Arizona. It’s another hire that could excite the fan base.”
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Drew went 17-7 in his first year in Phoenix as Grand Canyon’s coach. Before his three-year stint at Vanderbilt, he led Valparaiso to a 124-49 record in five seasons, which included two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Could he really be a candidate at Arizona?
To be fair, Bender had two categories on his list, the “best bets” and then “other candidates” and Drew was not among the best bets.
Pacific coach Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, Los Angeles Lakers assistant Miles Simon and UC Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternack, all of whom have Arizona ties, were on that list.
Drew was among the other candidates, which also included Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd (whose son, Liam, coincidentally plays for Drew at Grand Canyon), former Michigan coach John Bielein, San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and Washington State coach Kyle Smith.
We couldn’t find any other candidates lists that included Drew as a possibility as Arizona’s coach, but interestingly, his brother Scott, who just led Baylor to the national championship, was included in some early odds to replace Miller as Arizona’s coach.
More: How Bryce Drew led GCU to the WAC’s top seed in his first year in the face of COVID
MyBookie had Scott Drew at +500 to land the job in Tucson, fourth in its odds.
It had Stoudamire as the favorite at +200, followed by Floyd at +250 and Pastner at +400.
Simon was at +900, with former Arizona player and current Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton at +1200.
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Would Drew consider leaving Grand Canyon after one season?
Probably not.
Bender wrote that “there are more resources to work with at Arizona,” but Drew could be building something special in Phoenix.
After his team’s loss to Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Drew said: “Hopefully, we can use this as momentum to keep building in the future. I love this program.”
More: What’s next for Grand Canyon’s men’s basketball team after breakthrough season?
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona basketball coach: Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew among ‘best candidates’ for Wildcats