Bark of a champion


Drake spent most of its charmed basketball season as an overlooked, undervalued media darling.


As recently as a few weeks ago, college hoops pundits nationally couldn't even pronounce 'Emmenecker' correctly (cough, CBS's Seth Davis, cough) or pick boy wonder Keno Davis who celebrated his 36th birthday last week out of a lineup. While the Bulldogs' meteoric rise from the ashes was undoubtedly a feel good story in their eyes, when push Authen... DeMarcus Ware Jersey came to shove, the Bulldogs were supposedly short on overall talent, weak underneath, and simply dominating the Missouri Valley Conference in a 'down' year.


Then, a funny thing happened. Drake kept winning in both timely and convincing fashion, and the experts started to come around. The bandwagon suddenly included strangers of all shapes and sizes, and they weren't just from Des Moines or even Iowa, for that matter.


Somewhere along the way, the Bulldogs experienced a rare mid season mid major upgrade, shaking the Cinderella label before the NCAA Tournament had even tipped off.


To talking heads like ESPN's Jay Bilas, Drake is now a legitimate contender. On Pardon the Authentic Wes Welker Jersey Interruption this past week, Bilas identified the MVC Peyto... Manning Jersey champions as a team to watch not to pull off an upset or Wes Welker Jersey two, mind you, but to march right into the second week and possibly beyond.


In other words, the Bulldogs are being pre packaged as Authe... Peyton Manning Jersey a Gonzaga or a George Mason without any tourney track record to speak of (1969 doesn't count for much beyond nostalgia anymore). As an avid follower of March Madness for as long as I can remember, this kind of underdog turned top dog anointment is incredibly rare if not unprecedented.


So what does everyone else suddenly see in Drake? The same traits and characteristics most of the 'locals' have known about all season long.


The Bulldogs are a matchup nightmare for most teams. They stretch defenses with their three point shooting; Klayton Korver, Josh Young and Leonard Houston have all attempted at least 150 triples this year, and even Jonathan 'Bucky' Cox their lone post presence steps out and hits an occasional trey. Hint: perimeter savvy teams with 'niche' offenses tend to do very well in the tournament.


While one may think this style leaves Drake vulnerable to bigger and stronger opponents, consider how well they also rebound the ball. Cox (8.3) and Korver (4.0) go after it as forwards, but backcourt mates Adam Emmenecker (4.6) and Houston (4.4) hit the boards as well. Hint: teams with guards who rebound tend to do very well in the tournament.


The Bulldogs are green by Big Dance standards, true, but this is an old, wise group. Korver is 23 and a fifth year senior. Houston and Emmenecker are 22 and in their final seasons at Drake. Cox is a junior, but he's 22 as well. Hint: teams with a slew of upperclassmen tend to do very well in the tournament.


The veteran leadership translates into clutch numbers at the free throw line. All five Bulldog starters shoot above 75 percent, led by Korver (87.8) and Emmenecker (82.6). Houston (78.2), Cox (76.5) and Young (75.6) aren't far behind. Hint: teams that display supreme accuracy at the charity stripe tend to do very well in the tournament.


Davis' squad is also filled with brainy acts. Emmenecker is a quadruple business major and an academic All American. Cox is a Presidential scholar. Houston was an academic scholarship recipient in DU's business school.


Korver has been named to the MVC scholar athlete team three times. Top reserve Brent Heemskerk, like Emmenecker, is a business major in four different areas. Young is also enrolled in the business school.


Remember the school's 2.0 GPA rule? The one that supposedly crippled Drake's chances of being a contender, because it required more academically than the NCAA or the rest of the MVC? Turns out it was just a crutch. Nine count 'em, nine current players have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Hint: teams with heady players tend to do very well when facing the 'pressures' of the tournament.


So why Drake? Why not? As you can see, the numbers don't lie. Keno's crew certainly has all the makings both on and off the court. When I filed a column a little over two months ago trumpeting their 12 1 start, I was still a Womens DeMarcus Ware Jersey bit skeptical.


Not anymore.


As we all know, anything can happen in the postseason. The Bulldogs, like every other program lucky enough to make the 65 team field today, won't be guaranteed anything. They'll still be ignored by some and scoffed at by others, but they aren't the unknown Iowa corn kids anymore, either. Instead of flying comfortable under the radar, Drake is showing up on target screens left and right across the country.


Even so, there seems to be something totally logical about the otherwise surreal idea of advancing Drake deep through your bracket in pen, not pencil. This has been a dream season, but it's no fluke. The perfect storm came into March like a lion, and it could very well go out that way, too.