The 2023–24 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

in the

2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with th ...

. The Bulldogs, led by sixth-year head coach

Darian DeVries Darian Dale DeVries (born April 7, 1975) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana. He was previously the head coach at Drake Bulldogs men's basketball, Drake Unive ...

, played their home games at the

Knapp Center The Knapp Center is a 6,424-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1992. The Knapp Center is the center building for three athletic buildings combined. The Bell Center to th ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

as members of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC). They finished the regular season 25–6, 16–4 in MVC play to finish in second place. They entered the MVC tournament as a No. 2 seed, where they defeated

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...

, and

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they were defeated by

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

in the first round. Just three days after the loss,

accepted the head coaching position at

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Subsequently, most of the roster entered the transfer portal, including star Tucker DeVries.

Previous season

The

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

finished the regular season 27–7, 15–5 in MVC play to finish in second place. In the MVC tournament, they defeated

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, and

to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they were defeated by Miami (FL) in the first round.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

Preseason

The Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the conference's preseason poll for the third consecutive year. Forward Tucker DeVries was named MVC Preseason Player of the Year and selected to the preseason All-MVC first team.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - , - !colspan=12 style=, MVC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA Tournament Source

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team Drake Bulldogs men's basketball seasons

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...