And Bryce Drew probably thought he was going to be the most legendary Indiana high school basketball player to coach at Vanderbilt next season.
Drew is now No. 2 in that category. He sat in a steamy Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday and listened as the new No. 1, Stephanie White, laid out her vision for a Vanderbilt women’s basketball program with tradition, potential and a recent case of the blahs.
That dip and Melanie Balcomb’s April resignation is why White now possesses what she called her “dream job,” at a school she nearly attended — Purdue won out because of its aviation program. Purdue won out again when White led the Boilermakers to the 1999 national title as national player of the year — and under very peculiar circumstances.
White is the head coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and will remain so through a season that could realistically end in the Finals in mid-October (she led the Fever to the Finals a year ago as a rookie head coach). She might take full command of her first Vandy team less than a month before it starts the 2016-17 season.
That’s not ideal. But if White is what Vanderbilt thinks she is, what her resume and command of a room suggest she is, it’s meaningless. It’s the delayed flight to start a vacation that you’re already laughing about at the end of the vacation.
And this should be a long stay. The program’s potential is undeniable. Vanderbilt academics should always aid Vanderbilt athletics, there’s plenty of talent nearby and Memorial — lack of air conditioning notwithstanding — is a desirable place to play.
“Vanderbilt’s just the perfect fit,” White said. “It’s a university that attracts high achievers. I want to attract high achievers. I’m a high achiever myself.”
Gatorade and USA Today national player of the year at Seeger Memorial High in West Lebanon, Ind. College national champ and player of the year. Phi Beta Kappa, Academic All-American, WNBA first-rounder, college and pro assistant and head coach.
And by the way, a very good color commentator for ESPN and the Big Ten Network. She knows the game from all angles.
She knows what works, she knows how to win and she should win fans with her up-tempo style of basketball. If there’s a question about White, it’s in the recruiting realm.
The other two finalists, as reported by our Adam Sparks, were Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart and Notre Dame associate head coach Niele Ivey. They have been out recruiting high school players for the past several years.
The last time White had to do that was in 2007, her last of four seasons as a college assistant before transitioning to the WNBA. That’s before iPhones and before Twitter even had a million users.
But again — there’s plenty to sell, as Drew made clear when he took over the men’s program last month. And White doesn’t appear to be someone who will have trouble communicating that in high schools and living rooms. She came off sharp and funny and real at a press conference that was really more of a party, with Vandy fans and luminaries on hand.
“Anchor down, baby!” White said to her associate head coach, Carolyn Peck, while describing how Peck — her coach in the national title season at Purdue, a former Vanderbilt player and most recently an ESPN analyst — will shepherd the program through the next few months when White can’t be around.
“The communication style I have with my players started with her,” White said of Peck, “because she was so open to allowing us have a voice when I played with her, and a lot of coaches aren’t like that.”
Vanderbilt chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said his school likes “dynasties” and that White is “the other pillar in place.” Athletics director David Williams said Nashville is now “Hoops City, starring Bryce and Stephanie.”
Vandy football coach Derek Mason shook his head as he talked about the “unbelievable team” being assembled. White’s wife, Michelle Fletcher, sat with their 4-year-old son, Landon (they also have 2-year-old twins, Aiden and Avery) at the press conference and said: “This is amazing.”
Dana Drew Shaw, a Chicago attorney, stood in the back of the room. She is Bryce Drew’s sister. She is also White’s agent.
“Totally random,” she said of a client landing a month later where her brother did.
But they will be viewed together and presumably they will work together, these Indiana basketball legends hired to be Vanderbilt basketball revivers.
Courtesy of: The Tennessean, Joe Rexrode.