Drury Panthers

Drury Panthers
Drury Panthers
University	Drury University
Conference	GLVC (primary)
NCAA	Division II
Athletic director	Nyla Milleson
Location	Springfield, Missouri
Varsity teams	29 (13 men's, 15 women's, 1 co-ed)
Basketball arena	O'Reilly Family Event Center
Nickname	Panthers
Colors	Scarlet and gray;
Website	drurypanthers.com

The Drury Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Drury University, located in Springfield, Missouri, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for all 21 varsity sports. Drury has been a member of the GLVC since 2005.

Varsity teams

List of teams

Men's sports (10)

Baseball
Basketball
Cross country
Golf
Soccer
Swimming and diving
Tennis
Track and field (indoor)
Track and field (outdoor)
Wrestling

Women's sports (11)

Basketball
Bowling ^[3]
Cross country
Golf
Soccer
Softball
Swimming and diving
Tennis
Track and field (indoor)
Track and field (outdoor)
Volleyball

National championships

The Panthers have twenty-three NCAA team national championships, the fourth-most among active Division II athletics program (Saint Augustine's, Adams State, and Florida Southern have more).

Team

Sport	Association	Division	Year	Opponent	Score
Men's basketball (1)	NCAA	Division II	2013	Metro State	74–73
Men's swimming and diving (22)	NAIA (10)	Single	1981	Denver Simon Fraser	483–304
			1982	Denver	456–301
			1985	Central Washington	368–350
			1988	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	494–329.5
			1989	Puget Sound	632.5–410.5
			1990	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	634–376
			1991	Oral Roberts	631.5–630
			1992	Simon Fraser	779.5–493
			1993	Puget Sound	602.5–487
			1994	Puget Sound	813.5–507
	NCAA (12)^[4]	Division II	1999	Cal State Bakersfield	829–557
			2003		612–535
			2005		726–480
			2006		649–543½
			2007	North Dakota	521½–500
			2008	Missouri S&T	523½–336
			2009	Wayne State	543–504½
			2010	Incarnate Word	538–403
			2011	UC San Diego	600½–345
			2012	UC San Diego	473–400
			2013	Florida Southern	546–397
			2014	Florida Southern	569½–361
Women's swimming and diving (13)	NAIA (3)	Single	1992	Puget Sound	621–583
			1993	Puget Sound	637–630.5
			1994	Puget Sound	726–576
	NCAA (10)	Division II\|^[5]	1997	Oakland	690½–460
			1998	Cal State Bakersfield	578½–386
			1999	North Dakota	613–603½
			2000	Truman State	663–556
			2007	Truman State	646½–518
			2009	Wayne State	618½–453½
			2010		657–531
			2011		483½–388
			2013		432½–388
			2014		486–419

Individual teams

Baseball

Baseball, in hiatus since the 1970s, was reorganized for the 2007 season by new head coach Mark Stratton. Bill Virdon was the first Panther to make a start. Trevor Richards was the first alum to pitch a Major League Baseball win, for the Miami Marlins. The team plays home games at U.S. Baseball Park in nearby Ozark, Missouri.^[6]

Basketball

Mike Carter played for the Drury Panthers, who in 1978–79 were 33–2 and won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship as he won the 1979 NAIA basketball tournament's Charles Stevenson Hustle Award, and who over his two seasons with the team were 62–6.^[7]^[8] He holds the school's two-year record in rebounds (480).^[9] He was inducted into the Drury Panthers Hall of Fame in 2008.^[8]

On April 7, 2013, Drury won the Division II Men's National Championship in Basketball, defeating Metro State of Denver 74–73 after rallying from a 17-point deficit. The Panthers won their final 23 games of the season – a school record – to finish 31–4 on the season. They also captured their second Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and first NCAA Division II Midwest Regional along the way.^[10] In keeping with recent custom, the Division II champions were invited to play an exhibition game against Duke University.^[11]

On June 24, 2021, Drury announced former NBA player Chris Carr will join the Panthers coaching staff as an assistant.^[12]

Swimming and diving

Also in 2007, Drury men's swimming head coach Brian Reynolds was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.^[13]

Wrestling

In 2016, Drury began fielding a wrestling program, the first in the Ozarks region in over 20 years. The addition gave the GLVC the required minimum of six teams to hold a conference championship tournament, and it added the sport in the 2016–17 season.