BarleyMcDougal said:
Oldbear83 said:
Barley: "I've never seen ANY fan/alum of another school say that they would want Scott Drew"
Strange, I see and hear it a lot. TCU fans wanted Drew before they got Dixon, I know some West Virginia fans who are business colleagues here in Houston who would like Drew to replace Huggins, and Longhorn fans have long hoped they could steal Drew away.
I've personally never seen it. There's reticent acceptance, finally, that Drew can coach after years and years of quality results. I do think much of the animosity revolves around the combination of religion and college sports. Your average fan doesn't take well to that.
Disagree.
First, I talk with a relatively wide range of sports fans. Granted, my generation is older and so we reference a broader spectrum of seasons - one reason my Mountaineer friends in Houston mention trading Huggins for Drew, is that they feel Huggins has stopped improving, while Drew continues to do more with less.
The '
combination of religion and college sports' line is, to me, BS. No one says anything about Notre Dame or that nun from Chicago a couple years back. No one mocks BYU for their Mormon influence, and Baylor has never been in-your-face about religion. It's a weak excuse with nothing to back it up in fact.
Resistance to Drew is more about old-school coaches who see Drew as a threat to the Old Boy Network. Barnes hated Drew because he ignored demands to stay out of 'Longhorn' territory in recruiting, and Self hates Drew because while Baylor has never won in Lawrence, since Drew arrived Kansas has pretty much always had to sweat out games against Drew, including a couple conference tournament games. Drew is crafty, and has won a number of games by making mid-game changes that ordinary coaches would not have dared to try.
Drew is more respected now, because he is winning consistently and doesn't look like he wants to leave Baylor. Teams with recruiting advantages know they will still get their blue chip recruits and win most of the time, and the Big 12 screws Drew just often enough to take away a game or two when the Bears look a little too dangerous. That's OK in a way, because it causes teams outside the Big12 to undervalue Baylor, and so Drew sometimes goes further than expected in the NCAA Tournament because of that.
Drew is a good, decent man who truly loves and supports his athletes. He also happens to be one of the smartest coaches in this part of the country. Anyone who doesn't see that is sadly mistaken.