DUPanther Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Just a Drury fan here checking out your site.....lots of good information here. Since no one seems to know much about DU, here you go: Drury University Nickname: Panthers Enrollment: 2,100 Location: Springfield, MO Notable Alumni: Johnny Morris (Bass Pro founder), O'Reilly family (O'Reilly Auto Parts), Bob Barker (Price Is Right) Affiliation: NCAA D2 (since 1994) Conference: Great Lakes Valley (GLVC) Arena: O'Reilly Event Center (built 2010, see pics below), capacity 3,100 Basketball notables: NAIA National Champions, 1979...NCAA D2 National Tournament qualifier 5 of the last 7 years....currently ranked #21 pre-season D2....no thug got-kicked-out of a major D1 school rejects here, DU has graduated all but one player who finished his eligibility there over the last 30 years We've got some faces / names some of you all may recognize. One of our starting guards is junior Dennon Mitchell from Putnam City North. Our Coach is Steve Hesser who is a Stillwater native...he was a GA at OU under Tubbs then moved on to Bartlesville where he won 3 state titles and had a 2nd place finish in a 7 year stint. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in '07. So, what do you all think about the game? I live and die with the Panthers, but I've got no illusions about this one. Very tough matchup for us, especially Morrison and Craion. We're already down a player for the season (torn ACL) and he probably would have been our most athletic defender, so that hurts as well. Add in the fact that in D2 you only get 10 rides and we're coming in with 9 scholarship players. In the end, the depth and size will be tough to overcome. I'll be pleased as punch if we can keep it under 15. Hesser is a hell of a coach, though, and we've got some D1 talent in a few spots so hopefully we can make a game out of it. probable starters: G Brandon Lockhart SO G Dennon Mitchell JR G Alex Hall SO F Chris Parks SR F JaJuan Maxwell SR (he's just coming back from having his knee scoped..if he's not starting, will probably be Cable Hogue SO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cletus Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Thanks for the information about your school DUPanther. Looking forward to the game! Notable alumni--O'Reiily Auto Parts and Bob Barker!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Thanks, DUPanther!! Excellent post!! You have beautiful facilities. Mabee Center is a bit older, but a nice place for games. Without knowing that much about your team it's hard to predict much about the game. With some key players back healthy this season we're hoping to have one of the best teams we've had in several years. We think we have a legitimate shot at winning our conference this year. As always, things will have to fall into place, though. And that starts with not overlooking the Drury Panthers!! I think it will be a great game and I'm looking forward to getting the season started! I believe that I was at a recent meeting in which Scott Sutton remarked that he was good friends with your coach and hand known him for a long time. I had lunch last week with a guy who told me his daughter was going to be playing soccer for Drury next year on a soccer scholarship. Are you coming down for the game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoopsdude18 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 WOW! Stellar pics of the new facility there at Drury. There are some DII facilities out there that are probably better than 1/3 of Division I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOLO_Gold Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 WOW! Stellar pics of the new facility there at Drury. There are some DII facilities out there that are probably better than 1/3 of Division I. Exactly what I was thinking... a lot better than many in the Summit League. Glad you came to the board, DUPanther! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Nice Arena there, Pantherboy....Mabee was nice in the day but ORU would probably be better off having something smaller like Drury....maybe about 5500-6000 or so would be a nice capacity for a new ORU building....Mart Green Arena has a nice ring to it... .....TheEagleman wouldn't be surprised to see Drury play us tough for a half or more...especially if Coach Sutton plays 10-12 guys.....I am thinking something like 85-67 ORU..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I don't think it will be close, but Scott Sutton doesn't like to humiliate an opponent. We'll be working on tough defense, but we have a lot of offensive firepower. I think it'll be closer to 91-62. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I have no idea what the final score will be, but I'll be really surprised if Scott doesn't spread the minutes around all up and down the bench Tuesday night, just to see how everyone does against an unknown opponent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUIsbig Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I have no doubt it will be competitive most of the game. Early games are tough to gel in. But were loaded with talent. I agree with OT that everyone will be out there, which is also tough for gelling. ORU will win by 15. Very nice arena. You all have a lot of pride in your program. That's awesome. Where's the "Don't forget to say or neuter" slogan for the endzones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhammer Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Hey DUPANTHER, What happended to the old airport hanger you used to play in. Went to some games in the late 70s early 80s when Mo St. was DII and Drury was NAIA with the Boys from Boley, OK. (Jerry Alexander and Nate Quinn) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUPanther Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 I believe that I was at a recent meeting in which Scott Sutton remarked that he was good friends with your coach and hand known him for a long time. Yeah, Coach Hesser is an old school Oklahoma guy. Are you coming down for the game? Yes, wouldn't miss it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeFan Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Love your facility DruryPanther and nice to hear about your pride in the Panther program. An ORU loss to Drury would not bode well for the ORU program. D2's upset D1's occasionally, especially really good D2 teams. ORU cannot take anyone lightly and must play to potential. I expect ORU to win over Drury by at least 10 points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUPanther Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 I don't think it will be close, but Scott Sutton doesn't like to humiliate an opponent. We'll be working on tough defense, but we have a lot of offensive firepower. I think it'll be closer to 91-62. I'd much rather be playing a D1 that is not as well coached as ORU is. Someone like a Bradley, SEMO, or UMKC. We'd have a great shot to beat one of those teams. A big part of it will be how well we shoot it, how well we handle Morrison, and how well we can stay out of foul trouble....D2 teams don't have the depth that D1 teams have. We'll see how it goes. Another team from our league, Lewis, just played Illinois to 10 points on Saturday. Lewis has only beaten us once in 7 tries. ORU won't be caught napping like the Illini, though. Illinois thought they were going to win by 60 coming in to that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUPanther Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Where's the "Don't forget to say or neuter" slogan for the endzones? LOL.... Barker actually doesn't have many ties to the school any more....I don't think we'll be seeing any of that money. I know he didn't give jack for the arena. Just as well....I dont' think his politics line up too well with folks in Southwest Missouri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUPanther Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Hey DUPANTHER, What happended to the old airport hanger you used to play in. Went to some games in the late 70s early 80s when Mo St. was DII and Drury was NAIA with the Boys from Boley, OK. (Jerry Alexander and Nate Quinn) Weiser Gym. Last season was the last for basketball in old Weiser. They still use it for practice as of now, but have plans to eventually turn it into a student rec center. Great place to watch basketball. You got to see some great ball if you saw those Drury teams from the late 70's play. ORU would be in trouble if we had that kind of talent on this year's squad! We were THE basketball game in town back in those days....MO St (SMSU back then) was an afterthought. I'd love to see us go D1 and start playing them again. The Summit would be a nice place for our athletic programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleFanatic Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I would be very surprised to win this game by more than 15 points. Keep in mind that it is an exhibition game. Coaches are looking to solidify line-ups, see how different players play in different sittuations, and do any last minute fine tuning before the regular season starts. With as many new weapons as this team has, it will be at least a month before we know what kind of potential we have. Our NIT team with LSG played the first game of the season in the UMAC and squeked out an 11 or so point win against St. Gregory U. As long as we get the W, the final score probably wont be very indicative of how our season will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 I would be very surprised to win this game by more than 15 points. Keep in mind that it is an exhibition game. Coaches are looking to solidify line-ups, see how different players play in different sittuations, and do any last minute fine tuning before the regular season starts. With as many new weapons as this team has, it will be at least a month before we know what kind of potential we have. Our NIT team with LSG played the first game of the season in the UMAC and squeked out an 11 or so point win against St. Gregory U. As long as we get the W, the final score probably wont be very indicative of how our season will be. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 ORU will win by double digits but Sutton will be trying a lot of different combos....the margain of victory isn't important anyway.....as for Bob Barker, TheEagleman isn't surprised that he didn't donate anything to the new arena...Big Bob probably spends most of his money chasing down Hugh Hefner's stable rejects...."Come on, down!"..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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