Our fourth and final candidate is Marquette Head Coach
Andrew Draper. No stranger to Big East basketball fans, he took over the program there in 1990 after two years in the Big Ten at Ohio State and within three years had the Golden Eagles celebrating their 7th national championship in school history -- the first since 1965 -- making him an instant legend on campus.
During his interview, he told the committee that his interest in this job was about "new challenges" and "finding the opportunity on the biggest stage to do great things." Known as a tenacious recruiter during his assistant coach days, he says that right now he sees himself as a guy who can "lead by example."
He wouldn't consider this job unless it was "a destination to be his last" and it "the first and only job he's interviewed for since coming to Marquette and he thought that Coach Snell -- whom he considers a friend -- was "making a huge mistake leaving a place like [CCNY] where you could win titles forever."
Code:
Coaching History:
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Season Team Position W L CW CL Postseason
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1996 Marquette Head Coach 22 12 8 6 Loss in NCAA Tourney Round 2
1995 Marquette Head Coach 21 15 9 5 Loss in NIT Round 2
1994 Marquette Head Coach 21 12 9 5 Loss in NIT Round 1
1993 Marquette Head Coach 27 11 8 6 Loss in NCAA Final Four
1992 Marquette Head Coach 31 8 8 6 NCAA Champion
1991 Marquette Head Coach 16 15 7 7 Loss in CCS Round 1
1990 Marquette Head Coach 16 15 4 7 Loss in CCS Round 2
1989 Ohio State Head Coach 26 9 13 2 Loss in NCAA Tourney Round 2
1988 Ohio State Head Coach 25 10 8 7 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
1987 Holy Cross Assistant 22 10 8 3 Loss in NCAA Tourney Round 1
1986 Wisconsin Assistant 27 8 15 5 Loss in NCAA Tourney Round 2
1985 Wisconsin Assistant 20 15 9 6 Loss in NIT Round 3
Awards & Achievements:
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Season Award
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1992 NCAA Champion
1989 Conference Coach of the Year (Big Ten Conference)
1989 Big Ten Conference Champion
Job Movement:
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Season Move
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1990 Hired by Marquette (Head Coach)
1990 Quit job with Ohio State to pursue a higher position
1988 Hired by Ohio State (Head Coach)
1988 Quit job with Holy Cross to pursue a higher position
1987 Moved with head coach from Wisconsin to Holy Cross
1985 Hired by Wisconsin (Recruiting Coordinator)
Coach Draper is the final of our four candidates to interview. Having evaluated all of their credentials, do you see a guy who you favor most? I think each has their own unique advantages and disadvantages in this role and not one of them in my mind seems to be the definitive favorite.
Your thoughts?