The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 197 is Drexel basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Drexel basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 5
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.1
- Bids per season: 0.08
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 6
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Drexel basketball
The Dragons might not have the overall history like most of the Philly schools do, but since the 1970s, they’ve been competitive. All-time, the program has a .543 winning percentage, with 10 20-win seasons to its name. It is worth noting that Sports Reference lists Drexel’s first season as 1894-95, which would make them one of the earliest programs to field a team at any level. They went 7-2 in that inaugural slate.
Lately, Drexel has been inconsistent. While coach Zach Spiker led them dancing in 2021, they’ve pretty much been a program just hovering above .500 during his tenure. It’s respectable, but nothing has shown they could be a leader of the CAA.
And that’s because Drexel has had some really great stints. Under head coach Bruiser Flint, they never made the tournament, but his 245-217 record with the program and four CAA Coach of the Year awards showcased some very above-average seasons. That included a 29-7 campaign in 2011-12, where Damion Lee and Drexel lost to UMass by two points in the NIT quarterfinals.
Lee would have an outstanding career with Drexel before transferring to Louisville and then moving on to the NBA from there. But the most famous Drexel basketball alum is Malik Rose, who averaged 16.9 points and 12.6 rebounds per game over his four seasons. In his senior year, Rose averaged 20.2 PPG and 13.2 RPG, winning his conference’s Player of the Year for the second time. Drexel won the NAC regular season title all four seasons Rose was in town, going to the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore, junior, and senior years. In his senior year, 12-seed Drexel upset 5-seed Memphis, but lost to 4-seed Syracuse, ending in a 27-4 year. Rose would have a solid NBA career, playing 13 seasons. Bill Herrion coached Rose during that era and went 167-71 in eight seasons there.
One more cool thing of note happened in 2018, when Drexel overcame a 34-point deficit to beat Delaware – the largest comeback in DI hoops history.