The Drury Panthers are the athletic teams that represent

Drury University Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and gra ...

, located in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois ...

for all 18 varsity sports. Drury has been a member of the GLVC since 2005.

Varsity teams

List of teams

Men's sports (9) *Baseball *Basketball *Cross country *Golf *Soccer *Swimming and diving *Tennis *Track and field *Wrestling Women's sports (9) *Basketball *Bowling *Cross country *Golf *Soccer *Softball *Swimming and diving *Tennis *Track and field *Volleyball

National championships

The Panthers have twenty-three

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

team national championships, the fourth-most among active Division II athletics program ( Saint Augustine's, Adams State, and

Florida Southern Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

have more).

Team (23)

Individual teams

Baseball

Baseball, in hiatus since the 1970s, was reorganized for the 2007 season by new head coach Mark Stratton.

Bill Virdon William Charles Virdon (June 9, 1931 – November 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Virdon played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates from 195 ...

was the first Panther to make a start. Trevor Richards was the first alum to pitch a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

win, for the Miami Marlins. The team plays home games at U.S. Baseball Park in nearby

Ozark, Missouri Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Missouri. Its population was 21,284 as of the 2020 census. The 2019 population estimate was 20,482. Ozark is also the third largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, ...

Basketball

Mike Carter played for the Drury Panthers, who in 1978–79 were 33–2 and won the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

national championship as he won the

1979 NAIA men's basketball tournament Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

's Charles Stevenson Hustle Award, and who over his two seasons with the team were 62–6. He holds the school's two-year record in rebounds (480). He was inducted into the Drury Panthers Hall of Fame in 2008. 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. In keeping with recent custom, the Division II champions were invited to play an exhibition game against Duke University. On June 24, 2021, Drury announced former NBA player Chris Carr will join the Panthers coaching staff as an assistant.

Swimming and diving

Also in 2007, Drury men's swimming head coach Brian Reynolds was inducted into the

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1994 by Springfield businessman John Q. Hammons, the Hall of Fame is housed in a two-story, 32,000-square-foot building. On display are more than 4, ...

Wrestling

In 2016, Drury will field a wrestling program, the first in the Ozarks region in over 20 years. The addition means that the GLVC will have the required minimum of six teams to hold a conference championship tournament.

References

External links

* {{Great Lakes Valley Conference navbox