Former Monmouth-Roseville High School multi-sport standout and current Illinois State University women’s basketball assistant coach, Drew Cole was recently back in town for the Monmouth College Fighting Scot Society Golf Outing. Drew’s Dad, Jim, is an assistant coach for the Fighting Scots women’s basketball team. After playing 3 sports for Monmouth-Roseville, Drew went on to play football at Aurora University for four years. He then pursued the family business of coaching women’s basketball. Jim was a long-time high school girls basketball and baseball head coach in the Monmouth area, winding up his head coaching career at Monmouth-Roseville during Drew’s time at the school.
Drew will be entering his third season with the Redbirds this winter. According to the Redbird’s website, he oversees post development for the Redbirds, who are coming off their fourth-straight postseason appearance and second-straight 20-win season. Illinois State finished with a 22-12 overall record and 13-7 mark in MVC play in 2023-2024. The squad earned a WNIT bid for the third time in the last four seasons.
Cole joined ISU after a four-year assistant coaching stint at Abilene Christian, where he was awarded with a 2020 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association 30 Under 30 honoree. The award recognizes the top-30 up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches around the country aged 30 and under. Cole played an integral role in helping the Abilene Christian win the school’s first-ever Southland Conference Tournament Championship to earn a trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Prior to his time at Abilene Christian, Cole served as a graduate assistant with Austin Peay women’s basketball for the 2016-17 season before being promoted to the Director of Basketball Operations position for the following season. A 2016 graduate of Aurora University, Cole began his coaching career as a student assistant for the Spartans women’s basketball program.
I got a chance to chat with Drew at the golf outing on Friday and he talked about the challenges of the factor of the love-it or hate-it transfer portal.
For the entire interview with Drew Cole, go to the sports podcast section.
