JIMMY DREW
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Jimmy Drew was named the head coach of the Lincoln men's basketball team in the spring of 2022.  This past season Coach Drew led the Blue Tigers to one of the most successful seasons in program history.  Finishing the season with 23 wins, a GLVC Conference Championship, and an NCAA Tournament, the 2025 blue tigers completed a historic season.

His first season as Lincoln's head coach was a massive success, as Drew engineered the second-biggest turnaround in NCAA Division II. After winning just four games in 2021-22, Lincoln won 17 games in 2022-23 under Drew's leadership, and returned to Kansas City for the MIAA Championship Tournament for the first time since 2019-20. Drew coached the Blue Tigers to 13 league wins, the most-ever in a single season by a Lincoln team, as LU finished the season fifth in the conference.

The turnaround started before Drew had even coached a regular season game as, in a preseason exhibition on Nov. 7, 2022, Lincoln beat NCAA Division I opponent Missouri-Kansas City, 59-56. The road victory was Lincoln's first win over an NCAA Division I opponent since 1978-79 when the Blue Tigers beat Arkansas-Little Rock, then an NCAA Division I Independent, 84-60 in Jefferson City.

Three players earned All-MIAA recognition in 2022-23, including Artese Stapleton, who was named to the All-MIAA first team. Kevin Kone, an All-MIAA second team selection as well as a member of the MIAA All-Defensive Team, led NCAA Division II in both rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game while finishing in the top-five in both total rebounds and defensive rebounds per game. Sai Witt also was chosen as an All-MIAA honorable mention.

Drew came to Jefferson City after a successful six-year run as an assistant coach and the director of basketball operations at the University of Central Florida, an NCAA Division I program. Drew helped lead the Knights to a pair of 20-win seasons, a berth in the second round of the NCAA tournament and a trip to the Final Four of the NIT.

Drew, who helped Central Florida beat six teams ranked in the top-25 of the country, including two who were ranked in the top-15, has also coached at DePaul and Kentucky Wesleyan. During his time as a coach, he has worked with three players who have gone on to play in the NBA: Tacko Fall (Boston Celtics), Matt Williams (Miami Heat) and Deng Adel (Cleveland Cavaliers).

He has coached 10 players who have achieved all-conference honors, including seven at UCF, where he has helped the program win 112 games since 2016. Drew worked with three 1,000-point scorers at UCF, and helped directly oversee the program's budget, compliance, scheduling and day-to-day operations.

Prior to returning to the NCAA Division-I ranks with the Knights, Drew spent a year as the head coach of Victory Rock Prep in 2014-15, coaching three DI signees while leading the team to a 25-7 record. He also served as a coach with the Florida Sons AAU Adidas Gauntlet Series, where worked with nine players who went on to play Division I basketball in conferences such as the Big-12, the Southeastern Conference and the Big-10.

In 2013-14, Drew worked as an assistant coach at Kentucky Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II program. Drew helped the team earn a top-10 national ranking and coached three all-league honorees as KWU went 22-9 and reached the championship game of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament.

No stranger to Missouri, Drew began his collegiate career by playing two seasons for Southeast Missouri State University. He then transferred to DePaul University, where he started 17 games as a senior. After graduating, Drew remained at DePaul to serve as a graduate assistant, helping to break down film on opponents and performing advanced scouting.

Drew graduated from DePaul with a bachelor's degree in communications in 2011, and later earned a master's degree in business information technology in 2013.