Bryce Drew's dad had Vanderbilt dream as a boy

About 60 years before Bryce Drew became Vanderbilt’s basketball coach, his father played pickup games in his neighbor’s driveway dreaming of one day being a Commodore.

“And thank God that he let me live long enough to see that even though I didn’t make it (to Vanderbilt), my son did,” said 71-year-old Homer Drew. “That makes me proud.”

Long before the elder Drew was Valparaiso’s all-time winningest coach, he grew up in Webster Groves, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis, next door to John Russell, later a standout player at Vanderbilt.

“(Russell) was a star at Webster Groves High School and got a full scholarship to come to Vanderbilt University. So my dream was to play at Vanderbilt too,” Drew said. “I was not good enough, but Vanderbilt always remained a special place in my heart because of that.”

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Wearing Star V logo pins signifying their son’s newest school, Homer and wife Janet beamed at the April 6 press conference introducing Bryce as Vanderbilt’s new coach. Later this year, the couple plans to move from Valparaiso, Ind., to Nashville to see their son coach the Commodores that Homer once wanted to join as a boy.

“I’ve always been a Vanderbilt fan ever since I was small,” Homer said. “And that takes me back to before most of you were born. I can still picture it now.”

In 1953, Russell, then just 12 years old, moved to Webster Groves. The day his moving van pulled into his new driveway, 8-year-old Drew trotted over from the yard behind Russell’s house to meet and play baseball with his newest neighbor.

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They became fast friends despite being three grades apart. And when Russell became an elite basketball player at Webster Groves High, Drew would peer out of his bedroom window for the chance to jump into a pickup game on his neighbor’s freshly-paved court.

“When they had three or five (players), I would go right out there because they needed that fourth or sixth,” Homer said. “So even though I was younger, I would get to play basketball with all of them.”

Russell left Webster Groves for Vanderbilt in 1959, while Homer tried to gain his own footing as a high school basketball player.

Russell became a standout guard for the Commodores. He was a three-year starter, the team’s leading scorer in 1962 and an All-SEC first-team selection in 1962 and 1963.

Drew suffered through knee injuries until his senior year in high school and then landed at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., where he flourished as an honorable mention NAIA All-American. By then, his boyhood friend had become a law student and a student assistant coach under Roy Skinner for Vanderbilt’s basketball team.

“Ever since we started playing basketball in my backyard as boys, we’ve still remained friends and stayed in touch,” said Russell, now an attorney back in Webster Groves.

And about a half-century later, Russell and Drew will be linked on the court once again.

“When Homer called and told me that Bryce was interviewing for the Vanderbilt job, I was ecstatic,” said Russell, who watched Bryce play his final college game in the Sweet Sixteen in St. Louis in 1998.

“Is it a coincidence that they’ve ended up Vanderbilt? I don’t know what you call it. But all these years later, I am really proud of Homer and what he’s done. And now I’m really proud of Bryce.”

Bryce said he shares some coaching attributes with his dad, including “values of integrity (and) the hard work of developing young men into men.”

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Homer said Bryce’s work ethic was evident when he would shovel snow in the driveway as a boy to clear the lane for jump shots.

“He would cut off the fingertips of his gloves so he could feel the basketball when he would shoot in the snow,” Homer said.

The image brings back memories for Russell, who saw Homer do the same decades ago.

“Homer was just like Bryce in that way,” Russell said. “If pedigree means anything, Bryce will do well. Homer is a great guy, one of the best. And Bryce is a great guy.

“I know Bryce was a hot item among good young coaches already. But him being the coach at Vanderbilt now is just icing on the cake for me.”

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.