successful high school coach
State-Journal Register, excerpts:
http://www.sj-r.com/sports/20170403/springfield-sports-hof-jim-drew-starred-as-player-won-as-coach
Springfield Sports HOF: Jim Drew starred as player, won as coach
...If 1968 Griffin High School graduate Jim Drew’s career in athletics ended following his playing career at Middle Tennessee State University, odds are he still would’ve been a shoo-in for the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame.
But he made Calvary Academy the hottest ticket in town for much of his 14 seasons guiding the Saints and led the team to a 286-108 record in that span, according to year-by-year records in The State Journal-Register archives.
When he left Calvary, the school had nine regional and two Class A sectional plaques to thank him for. When he left coaching after 37 seasons, he had more than 500 wins.
He also coached at his alma mater, Sacred Heart-Griffin, for four seasons before leaving town once again in 2002 to become the athletic director and basketball coach at Anna-Jonesboro. It marked his fifth and final stop. Drew also coached at both Tennessee high schools Franklin and Shelbyville prior to Calvary.
When he got to MTSU, freshmen didn’t yet play varsity sports in college and Drew wasn’t sure if he’d even make it to a second season.
“I called home and said, ‘I can’t play with these guys; they’re too good,’” Drew said. “You talk about leaving town and all of a sudden getting a lot of humility. We had three players off that team drafted (by professional teams).”
It’s a good thing he stuck with it because as a sophomore Drew had his breakout season.
He averaged a team-high 13.0 points per game, including a 36-point effort against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 14, 1970. That still stands as the 10th-best scoring output in Middle Tennessee history. He also led the team during the 1969-70 season in free throws made (90) and in assists (4.9 per game).
“I thought I was on my way and had a chance to be drafted but things didn’t work out,” Drew said. “I broke my foot three times the following season which pretty much limited me the rest of my career. I started as a junior but not as a senior.”
He still had another 30-point performance in him, which came on Dec. 18, 1970 against Florence State. That remains tied for 20th in school history.
Returning to Springfield, he applied to coach at Calvary. The Saints had gone 12-32 in the two seasons prior.
But Drew won. And he won a lot. But it rarely came without controversy.
The Saints forfeited 12 games in the 1983-84 season for using an ineligible transfer player. And though that may have been an innocent mistake, it fueled speculation that Calvary acquired players by recruiting, which dogged Drew’s entire tenure.
Regardless of the rumors, the IHSA only found Calvary to have violated the rules in that one incident.
Drew still brushes off such suggestions. He said his best player, Rennie Clemons, wasn’t exactly Division I-bound out of middle school.
“At times, I felt people were probably jealous. We saw the players develop,” Drew said.
State-Journal Register, excerpts:
http://www.sj-r.com/sports/20170403/springfield-sports-hof-jim-drew-starred-as-player-won-as-coach
Springfield Sports HOF: Jim Drew starred as player, won as coach
...If 1968 Griffin High School graduate Jim Drew’s career in athletics ended following his playing career at Middle Tennessee State University, odds are he still would’ve been a shoo-in for the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame.
But he made Calvary Academy the hottest ticket in town for much of his 14 seasons guiding the Saints and led the team to a 286-108 record in that span, according to year-by-year records in The State Journal-Register archives.
When he left Calvary, the school had nine regional and two Class A sectional plaques to thank him for. When he left coaching after 37 seasons, he had more than 500 wins.
He also coached at his alma mater, Sacred Heart-Griffin, for four seasons before leaving town once again in 2002 to become the athletic director and basketball coach at Anna-Jonesboro. It marked his fifth and final stop. Drew also coached at both Tennessee high schools Franklin and Shelbyville prior to Calvary.
When he got to MTSU, freshmen didn’t yet play varsity sports in college and Drew wasn’t sure if he’d even make it to a second season.
“I called home and said, ‘I can’t play with these guys; they’re too good,’” Drew said. “You talk about leaving town and all of a sudden getting a lot of humility. We had three players off that team drafted (by professional teams).”
It’s a good thing he stuck with it because as a sophomore Drew had his breakout season.
He averaged a team-high 13.0 points per game, including a 36-point effort against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 14, 1970. That still stands as the 10th-best scoring output in Middle Tennessee history. He also led the team during the 1969-70 season in free throws made (90) and in assists (4.9 per game).
“I thought I was on my way and had a chance to be drafted but things didn’t work out,” Drew said. “I broke my foot three times the following season which pretty much limited me the rest of my career. I started as a junior but not as a senior.”
He still had another 30-point performance in him, which came on Dec. 18, 1970 against Florence State. That remains tied for 20th in school history.
Returning to Springfield, he applied to coach at Calvary. The Saints had gone 12-32 in the two seasons prior.
But Drew won. And he won a lot. But it rarely came without controversy.
The Saints forfeited 12 games in the 1983-84 season for using an ineligible transfer player. And though that may have been an innocent mistake, it fueled speculation that Calvary acquired players by recruiting, which dogged Drew’s entire tenure.
Regardless of the rumors, the IHSA only found Calvary to have violated the rules in that one incident.
Drew still brushes off such suggestions. He said his best player, Rennie Clemons, wasn’t exactly Division I-bound out of middle school.
“At times, I felt people were probably jealous. We saw the players develop,” Drew said.
