Bryce Drew opens up about being fired by Vanderbilt, reveals how little communication he had with new AD
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The start of the 2019 calendar year was a tough one for the Vanderbilt family, as long-time AD David Williams stepped down on Jan. 31 and then died at the age of 71 on Feb. 8.
The Commodores hired Malcolm Turner to replace Williams, and Turner decided to fire basketball coach Bryce Drew after the season — which ended with the Commodores going a historic 0-19 in SEC play.
On Friday, Drew opened up about the firing, saying he had a plan to help turn things around, but Turner fired him before any conversation could take place (via Yahoo! Sports):
When Drew went to Turner’s office as summoned on the day of his dismissal, he brought with him an 18-page plan of how to fix the program. It offered collaborative ideas, detailed areas for improvement and specific solutions. Drew never got a chance to hand him the document. “That was going to be the first time we were going to have that conversation,” Drew said. “Unfortunately, I never got to have that conversation.”
He added: “We never had a conversation about basketball. We never had a chance to sit down and talk.”
Turner came over from the NBA’s G League, having no prior college experience. To replace Drew, he hired longtime NBA player (and, interestingly, former G League coach) Jerry Stackhouse.
Was Drew doomed the day Turner took the job? We may never know, but Friday’s Yahoo report was certainly interesting.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
