OPINION w w w. u n p a c k i n i t . c o m | F o l l o w @ b r y c e r a d i o
Every week Bryce Johnson is joined on Sports Spectrum’s official podcast, Unpackin’ It, by inspiring guests to discuss sports, faith and life. Listen to the full audio of all his interviews on unpackinit.com. Below are some highlights from Bryce’s interview with Valparaiso head coach Bryce Drew and was the key player during 13-seeded Valparaiso’s surprise run to the sweet 16 in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. He famously hit “The Shot” to defeat Ole Miss.
BRYCE JOHNSON: I know you always get asked about “The Shot”, but I’m curious, does it come up with the young guys you are recruiting? BRYCE DREW: You know, sometimes the parents remember or sometimes the parent may say something to the player, but to be honest, a lot of these kids now are so young they really don’t piece it together. Usually they get on campus and someone will say something about it and they might go YouTube it and be like, “Oh, man,” and really have no idea until after they’re already at school. So, it’s not something that I go out and I sell in recruiting. I’m all about the player now and want them to be successful and not really looking back into the past. BRYCE JOHNSON: When did you know you wanted to coach? BRYCE DREW: It was probably about my third year in the NBA. I was playing with the Chicago Bulls and I got injured that year and missed quite a few games and just sitting there a lot. I really enjoyed the x’s and o’s and the game preparation and I enjoyed playing, but then started to also think if I’m going to coach, what would I do here or what can I pick up to help me when/if I do start coaching. BRYCE JOHNSON: What is the relationship like with your dad when it comes to you now being the coach for the same school that he was the coach for? Does he give you advice? BRYCE DREW: A lot of the values and the sustenance of our program and it’s the foundation that he’s laid within the program and also within me, and so we do a lot of things similar. He gave me some of the best advice when I took over. He said just be yourself, react how you would react, say what you would normally say and just be yourself out there. That’s been the greatest advice, I just try to be myself. Just like I am in practice I try to be in the games. BRYCE JOHNSON: What has your faith journey been like? BRYCE DREW: I’m very blessed. I grew up in 2
SPORTS SPECTRUM ~ DIGIMAG 2013
a Christian family, going to church. We did go to a lot of different churches growing up, and I would say in high school, when I was in 10th grade, is when I really gave my life to Christ. (I realized) that just because my parents are going to church doesn’t mean I have to, but I want to go because I wanna serve Christ and worship Him, and so when I was in high school was when it became my faith. Like anything in life it’s a journey, and there’s ups and downs and struggles, and the one thing that’s always remained true is God and His love and His grace for us. For me, I’m very blessed to have the family that I’ve had and also very blessed to be at a school, a private school that allows us to pray with the team and open up the Bible and talk about it, so it’s something that we definitely take advantage of and expose our players to. BRYCE JOHNSON: What is the response like from players and what are other ways you’ve been able to lead with your faith? BRYCE DREW: We’ve got a great group of guys. Seven of our 13 players have a cumulative 3.0 or better GPA after the first semester. They’re very, very bright kids. We have an older team with six seniors. I’m very blessed, we have a great staff with other believers on it. We’ll do like a chapel before every game and we’ll do different stories from the Bible and tie it into the game and tie it into life sometimes, and it’s great to get some of the feedback from the players. I don’t know if all of our players will accept Christ or have, but our job…we do want to lay a foundation and expose them to Jesus, and hopefully, if they haven’t accepted him, hopefully at some point in their life, they will recall these situations or what we’ve taught them and then give their life or pursue Christ then. So, we definitely have it there; we pray before every practice and we like to expose our players to Christ. BRYCE JOHNSON: Finally, I have to ask you about your relationship with your brother, Scott, who is the head coach of Baylor. I want to know what you thought of the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other in the Super Bowl and do you think you would ever want to coach against Scott in a big game? BRYCE DREW: It was kind of neat to see two
brothers, and I can definitely feel for them because my brother and I have talked about it before, and we do not want to play each other. It’s just too hard. We’re very close, and it’s so competitive at the Division 1 level and so cut-throat, and to be in that situation, I don’t think we would want to be there. Maybe the only way would be the National Championship game, but even then family reunions are tough after that, after one brother loses. So it’s definitely a tough thing. Photo provided by: Valparaiso University Athletics
I’m convinced... • Duke, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio State will make the Final Four. • Duke will win the National Championship. • I’m convinced the first Thursday of the tournament is my favorite because of all the anticipation and excitement for the start of the big dance. • My favorite play in tournament history is the Christian Laettner shot at the foul line that helped Duke beat Kentucky. • The upset teams to pick this year are Valpo, Davidson, Ole Miss, and Iowa State. • It’s not okay that Kentucky won the national championship last year and then lost in the first round of the NIT this year. They are too strong of a program to allow that big of a drop off. • College basketball is obviously better when there are more seniors playing. • The teams I can’t trust in the tournament anymore are Kansas, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma.