With Keno Davis off to Providence after one wildly successful season as the Bulldogs head coach, Drake had to find someone to try and ensure it would be less than 37 years before their next NCAA Tournament appearance. They've settled on Mark Phelps, an assistant under Herb Sendek at Arizona State and North Carolina State for the last dozen seasons. Phelps has never been a college head coach and has no ties to the Midwest but there are reasons to believe he'll succeed at Drake. He's been a top-flight recruiter domestically and abroad, the latter being a place Drake can exploit to get talented players who might not consider the school if they were from Chicago. In addition, two former Sendek assistants have done a fine job since leaving his bench. Thad Matta and Sean Miller have both won big so it's a decent bet on pedigree by the Bulldogs.
He's inheriting two solid players in Josh Young and Jonathan Cox and a program that's gained some name recognition thanks to their conference title. He should be able to recruit better players because of that and will need to since the Bulldogs are losing about half their scoring and assists from this season. The biggest loss is Adam Emmenecker, the MVC Player of the Year, who ran the point with aplomb last season. Replacing him will be quite tough and how well Phelps does it will help determine Drake's chances in the MVC and beyond in 2008-09.
