Vanderbilt has agreed to a deal in principle to hire Valparaiso's Bryce Drew as the school's next head basketball coach, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Drew is considered one of the rising young stars in college coaching and was also a top candidate for Georgia Tech's head coaching vacancy.
This is not the first time bigger schools have shown interest in Drew. He has turned down multiple job offers in bigger conferences, but is said to favor the Vanderbilt job because of its niche as a private school like Valpo, but in a power five league.
The 41-year-old Drew just finished his fifth season at Valpo, where he led his alma mater to a runner-up finish in the NIT Thursday night, capping a school record 30-win season. Drew has a career record of 124-48, has won four Horizon League regular season titles and led the Crusaders to the NCAA Tournament twice.
Drew served as an assistant at Valpo under his father, Homer Drew, for six seasons before being named head coach in 2011. He also played six seasons in the NBA with the Rockets, Bulls and Hornets.
Drew was selected 16th overall by the Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft following four seasons as a standout guard with the Crusaders. He was twice named the Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year. He also made one of the most famous shots in NCAA Tournament history, making a buzzer-beater to upset heavily favored Ole Miss in the first round in 1998.
Vanderbilt is searching for a new coach to replace Kevin Stallings, who was named the head coach at Pittsburgh Sunday. Stallings is the winningest coach in school history with 332 wins and seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 17 seasons.
Former Vanderbilt coach Eddie Fogler has been hired by the school as a consultant to assist with the first coaching search in the men's basketball program since 1999.
