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LOCATION: Des Moines, IA
CONFERENCE: Missouri Valley
LAST SEASON: 10-17 (.370)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 5-13 (10th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Bulldogs
COLORS: Blue & White
HOMECOURT: Knapp Center (7,000)
COACH: Kurt Kanaskie (LaSalle '80)
record at school 15-67 (3 years)
career record 222-174 (14 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Marty Bell (South Carolina '85)
Darius Floyd (Columbia State '96)
Kevin Reynolds (Bloomsburg '91)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 12-12-2-3-10
RPI (last 5 years) 140-139-255-293-173
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference play-in round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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If the Bulldogs improve their won-loss record as much this season as they did last year, when they won twice as many games (10) as they had the previous two seasons combined, they're looking at certain postseason play and the most victories for a Valley team in the 1990s. While coach Kurt Kanaskie is optimistic about this group, which returns five starters and its top seven scorers, such a goal might be a tad lofty. Kanaskie is well aware a program as down as Drake was two years ago isn't going to run with the big dogs in such a short time. But this group certainly has at least earned its canine moniker based on the strides it made a year ago. Among the Bulldogs' victims were eventual MVC Tournament champion Creighton, which reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and Bradley, an NIT qualifier. Drake registered near misses at home to Iowa (78-74) and Southwest Missouri State (89-85), which both advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. "We really improved last year," Kanaskie said of his team, which went from 3-24 to 10-17. "Unfortunately, we still finished last in the conference (5-13). That shows the strength of our conference. We lost three non-conference games to Iowa, at Iowa State (57-56) and got blown out at Indiana (102-46). None of those teams would have been the top teams in our conference." In other words, Drake's improvement last year was relative, considering the rest of the league got better, too. But the Bulldogs had lost 39 consecutive league games entering the season. To win five conference games was a major statement, even though it still spelled last place. The next step, then?
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES D+
While the strength of the Missouri Valley won't allow Drake to move too far up in the standings from its three-year stranglehold on the cellar, the Bulldogs have enough experience and talent to advance a notch or two. Besides all the returnees, there appears to be enough quality among the newcomers for this team to go at least 6-3 during a weak non-conference schedule. The 18-game league schedule will provide a much more daunting challenge. The key Drake players are the two new guards, Lamont Evans and Andrew Pleick. They provide the Bulldogs the type of rangy, athletic guards that abound among the Valley's contenders and should allow Kanaskie some better matchup options. If those guards aren't as good as advertised and if the Bulldog holdovers don't take advantage of their experience and make this team tougher on the road, then the promising basketball fortunes in Des Moines may stall on the side of the road to .500. |
"It's been 13 years since Drake has had a winning season," Kanaskie said. "That's got to be our goal this season. That would let people know you can be successful at Drake." In order to leap that hurdle of a .500 season, the Bulldogs must learn to win on the road, at least a few times. Last year, Drake was 0-10 in road games. While posting a 9-5 mark at the Knapp Center, the only game the Bulldogs won away from the friendly confines was against Bucknell in a neutral-site game at Indianapolis. "We tended to play harder and more unselfish at home," Kanaskie said. "We just seemed to get paranoid on the road and not play with the same confidence we did at home." Kanaskie is betting that a six-game Caribbean tour last summer, during which his team went 5-1 against teams from Barbados and the Bahamas, will go a long way toward road-toughening his Bulldogs. "Hopefully, the foreign tour will help us in that regard," the coach said. "But the thing it did most for us was it gave us an opportunity to have intense practice sessions twice a day (for 10 days before the trip). That helped establish the things we think are important. It also showed a commitment from our university to the basketball program. It showed Drake is now willing to do some of the things necessary to be competitive." The top two reasons Drake made big strides last year were the additions of two athletic 6-8 inside players junior college transfers Aaron Deeter and Dontay Harris. Harris was chosen to the MVC All-Newcomer team while finishing second in the league in rebounding with a 7.5 average. He also averaged 11.2 points and became the first Drake player to collect 200 rebounds since William Celestine in 1993-94. Deeter averaged 10.1 points and shot a team-high .477 percent. As a duo, Deeter and Harris gave Drake an inside presence and toughness missing from the program since Kanaskie took over the reins from Rudy Washington after the 1995-96 season. The two players are back for their senior seasons, stronger and wiser after a year in the MVC. "Deeter and Harris both have worked hard on improving their skills," Kanaskie said. "Harris may move to small forward because he is athletic enough to defend that position." Also back for a third consecutive year as the starting backcourt are seniors Matt Woodley and Armand LeVasseur. The 5-11 Woodley (12.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 79 assists, 68 steals) led Drake in scoring and ranked second in the Valley in steals for the second consecutive year. The 6-2 LeVasseur (10.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 61 assists) needs just 11 three-point baskets to become the school's career leader with 152. He shot a respectable .345 percent from behind the arc last season (59 of 171). The guards will be pressed for playing time by two newcomers 6-3 junior college transfer Lamont Evans (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Catherine JC, Ky.) and 6-4 freshman Andrew Pleick (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos High). Evans, a junior, ranked third in the nation in assists with 10.3 per game at St. Catherine, while averaging 16.2 points. He was the most valuable player of Region VII. Pleick, a native of Sweden averaged 15.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists, while being selected to the Los Angeles Times All-Orange County first team. "Evans brings us a dimension we've lacked a tall, quick-flashing athletic guard," Kanaskie said. "He is an excellent passer with tremendous vision who can be a defensive stopper for us. Pleick is a lefty who shoots well and is a tremendous passer. He reminds you of (Temple's) Pepe Sanchez." Hometown freshman Greg Danielson (Des Moines, Iowa/Hoover), a 6-9, 255-pound center who averaged 22.0 points and 12.6 rebounds, is also expected to contribute right away. "He's that strong body we hope can give us the back-to-the-basket player we really haven't had," Kanaskie said. Three junior forwards 6-8 Joey Gaw (6.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg), 6-4 Aaron Thomas (5.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and 6-6 Justin Ohl (5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg) are key holdovers who will add quality depth the Bulldogs lacked a year ago. "When we go to our bench this year, there won't be a dropoff like there was in the past," Kanaskie said. "Our top five was solid last year, but after injuries to (Myron) Richardson and (Kareem) Lee, we weren't nearly as deep." Several of those bench players from last year are no longer in the program. Myron Richardson, who suffered a serious knee injury last December, had to forego his final year of eligibility. Kareem Lee, a promising point guard, never got untracked last year because of a back injury and has transferred to Quinnipiac. Two little-used inside players also moved on forward Abdul Collier transferred to Philadelphia Textile and center Brandon Donaldson opted for Lehigh. Drake received a significant transfer itself in Andry Sola, who played his freshman year at George Washington, averaging 4.4 points and scoring a season-high 19 points in a non-conference game against Valley foe Bradley. Sola will be eligible for the 2000-2001 season. One other freshman recruit, 6-8 Jason Sarchet (Newell-Fonda HS), chosen the Iowa small-school player of the year for his 17.5-point, 9.8-rebound season in leading Newell-Fonda to the state title, may be redshirted this year to aid in his adaptation to the college game. Walk-on guard Jonathan Anderson (0.9 ppg, 0.4 rpg) again isn't expected to play much.
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