vlog

Skip to content
NOWCAST vlog News at 10pm Weeknights
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Drake's Division II transfers are proving they can win in March Madness

Drake's Division II transfers are proving they can win in March Madness
THE DANCE CONTINUES FOR DRAKE. THE TEAM JUST CAN’T STOP WINNING. THEY UPSET MISSOURI FOR WIN NUMBER 31 OF THIS MAGICAL SEASON. BACK HERE IN IOWA, WE WERE GLUED TO OUR TVS. BUT OUT IN WICHITA, SHANNON EARHART WAS COURTSIDE WITH THE WHITE SHIRT, BLUE TIE, FAITHFUL. SHANNON. TONIGHT WAS HISTORIC. SCOTT. IT WAS HISTORIC. I CALLED YOU RIGHT AFTER THE GAME, AND I SAID, DRAKE CANNOT STOP WINNING. LIKE YOU SAID, ALL THEY DO IS WIN. THEY PULL THE UPSET AGAINST MIZZOU 67 5557. THE FINAL SCORE HERE. THEY ADVANCE TO THE SECOND ROUND FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1971. THEY DID IT BY GETTING IT DONE ON THE DEFENSIVE END. THEY GOT THOSE STOPS AND THEN THEY WERE ABLE TO CONTROL THE PACE OF THE GAME AND PLAY THEIR GAME. BENNETT SAID THAT EVENTUALLY SOMETHING WOULD HAVE TO GIVE BECAUSE THE FASTEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY FACED THE SLOWEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY, AND THAT’S TRULY WHAT HAPPENED. DRAKE WAS ABLE TO TAKE TOTAL CONTROL IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT. THEY WERE ABLE TO OUTSCORE MIZZOU. THEY HELD THE DOGS IN SEC POWERHOUSE TO 84 POINT, WHO IS AVERAGING 84 POINTS A GAME TO A SEASON LOW 23 POINTS AT HALFTIME. THEY WERE LEADING BY SEVEN. DRAKE WAS UP 15 POINTS IN THE SECOND HALF, BUT MIZZOU MADE IT A ONE POINT GAME WITH 430 LEFT. WE WERE SHAKING. THEY WENT 23 OF 26 FROM THE FREE THROW LINE. MIZZOU DID AND THE BULLDOGS WERE ABYSMAL ON THAT FRONT. THEY SHOT 50% FROM THE LINE, BUT DAVION BANKS DID LIGHT IT UP FROM THE BENCH. HE SCORED 15 POINTS WITH A GAME HIGH NINE BOARDS. DANIEL ABREU DESCRIBED HIS PERFORMANCE AS EXCEPTIONAL. THE BULLDOGS WOULD SNAG A70 RUN AND FINALLY MAKE THEIR FREE THROWS DOWN THE STRETCH TO WIN 6757. DRAKE SHOT 53% FROM THE FLOOR WITH 23 POINTS OFF TURNOVERS, AND SCORED 26 BENCH POINTS. BENNETT STEWARTS HAD A GAME HIGH 21 POINTS, BUT IT WAS A COMBINED EFFORT AND IT HAD TO BE A COMBINED EFFORT IN ORDER TO GET THIS ONE DONE. OUR GUYS HELD IT TOGETHER ON DEFENSE. ON OFFENSE, WE WE GOT SOME EASY ROTATION. I WOULD SAY LOOKS FROM LIKE T AND WE MADE GOOD PASSES AND STUFF. IT JUST IT JUST KIND OF HAPPENED FOR US. DON’T SLOW DOWN. JUST KEEP OUR FOOT ON THE GAS. STAY TOGETHER A LITTLE BIT MORE. BETTER EXECUTE THE OFFENSE AND DEFENSE A LITTLE BIT BETTER TOO. SO YEAH, JUST PLAYING OUR DEFENSE. YOU KNOW REALLY WHEN YOU HAVE A TALENTED TEAM LIKE THAT, YOU REALLY GOT TO HONE IN ON WHAT YOU DO. YOU CAN’T EXPECT TO CHANGE YOUR DEFENSE IN A GAME LIKE THIS. IT’S REALLY JUST HONING IN ON YOUR HABITS. AND YOU KNOW, STAYING COMPACT. SO DRAKE WILL GET THE WINNER OF TEXAS TECH OR UNC WILMINGTON IN THE SECOND ROUND. HERE IN WICHITA, IT LOOKS LIKE TECH IS WINNING RIGHT NOW. 7164 WITH STILL UNDER FOUR MINUTES TO GO. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN HERE IN THE SECOND ROUND, BUT DRAKE HAS ALREADY MADE HISTORY THERE. 31 WINS IN THE COUNTRY IS TIED WITH HOUSTON AND DRAKE FOR MOST IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW THE TIME OF THAT SATURDAY TIP IN THE SECOND ROUND. BUT DRAKE, IT’S LOOKING LIKE THEY’RE GOING TO GET TEXAS TECH IN ROUND TWO. SCOTT LI
Advertisement
Drake's Division II transfers are proving they can win in March Madness
Bennett Stirtz understood time was winding down on him Thursday night. Ben McCollum was frantically waving his arms at him on the sideline, and the Drake fans sitting behind the Bulldogs' coach were doing the same thing.They were imploring Stirtz to shoot, so he did — a 25-foot teardrop 3 as the shot clock expired that hit nothing but net."I don't really know what I was doing there," Stirtz said with a sheepish grin afterward.Oh, but the boys from Drake know exactly what they're doing.They proved that in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when a team full of Division II transfers including Stirtz, and led by their old D-II coach from Northwest Missouri State, beat back a stiff second-half challenge from Missouri for a 67-57 victory.The win pushed the No. 11 seed Bulldogs (31-3) into a second-round showdown Saturday against third-seeded Texas Tech, and within one win of reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1971."The reason you do this is the stage, it allows you to pass a message, which is tough kids, connected kids, kids that love each other, can still win," said McCollum, who bypassed several Division I offers while leading the Bearcats to four national titles, only to finally accept the monumental task of replacing Darian DeVries at Drake last April."I get a lot of joy out of just me seeing it, to be honest," McCollum said. "I'm pretty selfish about it. I love seeing these guys every day. I love going to practice. There's a level of memories and things you go through that nothing can replace."The Bulldogs are all about making some March memories.Given where they came from, who could blame them?Stirtz was the kid from Liberty, Missouri, that none of the big schools — including the Tigers — wanted out of high school. So, he headed up the road to Maryville and Northwest Missouri State, where McCollum was busy building a juggernaut, and became a Jimmy Chitwood-like star who seemed to do just about everything on the hardwood.Stirtz was joined by Isaiah Jackson, who grew up not far from Liberty in Independence and was similarly overlooked. And by Daniel Abreu, who grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and Mitch Mascari, who found his way there from Geneva, Illinois."When I signed my little contract," Abreu recalled, "I thought that was it. I'm a D-II athlete. And I was OK with that."Yet things were unfolding at Drake last year that changed all their lives. DeVries left for West Virginia, and McCollum bit on the opportunity to replace him. And when 15 players left the program, the new coach began to fill the holes by calling up some of his old players, giving those outcasts and misfits the opportunity to join him in D-I."I brought winners with me. That's what I brought," McCollum said. "I guess my superpower is finding winners, finding tough kids and believing in them. I know I've tried to be humble, but man, I believed in these kids."They're paying back that belief in a big way.The Bulldogs already have set a school record for wins. They swept the regular- and postseason Missouri Valley Conference titles. And with a raucous crowd behind them Thursday night, they ended Drake's four-game skid in first-round NCAA Tournament games."It's hard to put into words, because personally, I was in Division II and now I'm here, in a tournament I've dream of playing in. To get even just one win is insane," Jackson said. "It even tops it off when you play a team from your home state."Nobody from Drake seems content with just one win, though. There is a genuine belief that a program that relies so heavily on D-II transfers can beat anyone in D-I, and it has earned another chance to prove it on Saturday night."We can go as far as we want to," Jackson said. "As long as we stay together, believe in each other, and we do the little things, we can make a run and surprise a lot of people in the nation."» Subscribe to vlog's YouTube page» Download the free vlog app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play

Bennett Stirtz understood time was winding down on him Thursday night. Ben McCollum was frantically waving his arms at him on the sideline, and the Drake fans sitting behind the Bulldogs' coach were doing the same thing.

They were imploring Stirtz to shoot, so he did — a 25-foot teardrop 3 as the shot clock expired that hit nothing but net.

Advertisement

"I don't really know what I was doing there," Stirtz said with a sheepish grin afterward.

Oh, but the boys from Drake know exactly what they're doing.

They proved that in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when a team full of Division II transfers including Stirtz, and led by their old D-II coach from Northwest Missouri State, beat back a stiff second-half challenge from Missouri for a 67-57 victory.

The win pushed the No. 11 seed Bulldogs (31-3) into a second-round showdown Saturday against third-seeded Texas Tech, and within one win of reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1971.

"The reason you do this is the stage, it allows you to pass a message, which is tough kids, connected kids, kids that love each other, can still win," said McCollum, who bypassed several Division I offers while leading the Bearcats to four national titles, only to finally accept the monumental task of replacing Darian DeVries at Drake last April.

"I get a lot of joy out of just me seeing it, to be honest," McCollum said. "I'm pretty selfish about it. I love seeing these guys every day. I love going to practice. There's a level of memories and things you go through that nothing can replace."

The Bulldogs are all about making some March memories.

Given where they came from, who could blame them?

Stirtz was the kid from Liberty, Missouri, that none of the big schools — including the Tigers — wanted out of high school. So, he headed up the road to Maryville and Northwest Missouri State, where McCollum was busy building a juggernaut, and became a Jimmy Chitwood-like star who seemed to do just about everything on the hardwood.

Stirtz was joined by Isaiah Jackson, who grew up not far from Liberty in Independence and was similarly overlooked. And by Daniel Abreu, who grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and Mitch Mascari, who found his way there from Geneva, Illinois.

"When I signed my little contract," Abreu recalled, "I thought that was it. I'm a D-II athlete. And I was OK with that."

Yet things were unfolding at Drake last year that changed all their lives. DeVries left for West Virginia, and McCollum bit on the opportunity to replace him. And when 15 players left the program, the new coach began to fill the holes by calling up some of his old players, giving those outcasts and misfits the opportunity to join him in D-I.

"I brought winners with me. That's what I brought," McCollum said. "I guess my superpower is finding winners, finding tough kids and believing in them. I know I've tried to be humble, but man, I believed in these kids."

They're paying back that belief in a big way.

The Bulldogs already have set a school record for wins. They swept the regular- and postseason Missouri Valley Conference titles. And with a raucous crowd behind them Thursday night, they ended Drake's four-game skid in first-round NCAA Tournament games.

"It's hard to put into words, because personally, I was in Division II and now I'm here, in a tournament I've dream of playing in. To get even just one win is insane," Jackson said. "It even tops it off when you play a team from your home state."

Nobody from Drake seems content with just one win, though. There is a genuine belief that a program that relies so heavily on D-II transfers can beat anyone in D-I, and it has earned another chance to prove it on Saturday night.

"We can go as far as we want to," Jackson said. "As long as we stay together, believe in each other, and we do the little things, we can make a run and surprise a lot of people in the nation."

»

» Download the free vlog app to get updates on the go: |