Sure, Drew has more tournament appearances at Valpo than we have at Illinois in the last three years, and has won the conference every year but one he's been at Valpo, and was 4th the other year.
In the Horizon, against the likes of Chicago State and IUPUI. And you're of the opinion, to which you're entitled, that his successes there will translate to the level of success in the B1G that we all want? I guess I'd have to ask what makes you think he'd establish recruiting relationships in Chicago, St. Louis, Peoria, and nationally well enough to land the higher caliber players we need, and what leads you to believe he'd be any better coaching than Groce against the great coaches and their players in the B1G. We got Groce from the MAC (though he at least had B1G experience as an assistant), you're not happy with him or how that turned out, yet you'd next grab a guy from the Horizon. I just don't know what there is about Drew that would convince a new AD to walk in and can Groce at the end of this season for. I don't think that
will happen, regardless, but still not seeing why Drew w/b an improvement over Groce.
Other posters have cited that Valpo is currently at #20 kenpom, that Drew has a coaching father and brother, and that he played a bit in the NBA. Going in reverse order, I don't give much weight to playing in the NBA at all (who among the current stable of B1G coaches played in the NBA? Maybe Eddie Jordan(?), but Izzo, Matta, Beilein, etc. are doing fine w/out that on their resumes). As for the family tree, Homer was like a Ray Meyer, right, just stayed at Valpo a real long time and had late career success? Scott is doing good at Baylor with some amazing (cough, cough) recruiting right out of the box. But why does that mean Drew is ready and able to take over at Illinois. As for kenpom #20, I'm a few months away from "will she still need you, will she still feed you", so I'll confess I don't know what the significance of that stat is. If it means kenpom thinks there are currently only 19 teams in the country better than Valpo, I'll have to grin and leave that alone.