Probably Missouri’s greatest pure point guard, Larry Drew starred for Norm Stewart from 1977-80, before going on to a long NBA career, both as a player and as a coach. He paced the Tigers to a Big Eight Conference Tournament championship in 1978, then was the senior veteran on the first of four straight MU conference championship teams in 1980. As a junior and senior, he won MU’s Sparky Stalcup Award for inspirational leadership, as well as the Tigers’ MVP award. He was Mizzou’s leading scorer in 1979 and was the first Tiger to lead the team three straight years in assists. He set what was then the school record with 12 assists in a memorable upset of Notre Dame in the 1980 NCAA Tournament, a record that stood for 13 years. A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Drew was a first-round draft choice of the Detroit Pistons, and played professionally with the KC/Sacramento Kings, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers and in Europe. He scored 8,110 points in 714 NBA games, and in 1982-83 with the Kings, averaged 20.1 points and 8.1 assists. He closed his pro career in 1991 with the Lakers, then took over as head of the Magic Johnson Foundation. Drew rejoined the Lakers as an assistant coach in 1992 where he worked with former MU all-American Anthony Peeler. He also worked as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks and L.A. Clippers. He has been a head coach in the NBA with the Hawks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
