'Drew has been successful every place he has coached': IU basketball announces hire of assistant coach Drew Adams

IU basketball has officially announced the newest addition to their staff. Per an Indiana release, Drew Adams is confirmed to be the newest assistant coach for Darian DeVries and his staff.

This really comes to no surprise as Adams has been on the recruiting trail for IU basketball the last month.

Adams will be joined by Rod Clark of Tennessee, Kenny Johnson of Georgetown and Nic Norton of West Virginia as the assistant coaches for the inaugural IU basketball staff under Darian DeVries.

Below is the full release from the Indiana basketball program.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries announced the addition of assistant coach Drew Adams to his staff on Wednesday.

“Drew has been successful every place he has coached,” DeVries said. “He has deep recruiting ties to the state of Indiana and will work tirelessly to make sure we are able to put the best product on the floor. He is a highly respected young coach, and we are excited to be able to bring him and his family back to Bloomington.”

A Bloomington High School South graduate, Adams was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for head coach Wes Miller for two seasons at Cincinnati. During his time with the Bearcats, the program won 41 games and made a pair of postseason tournaments.

Before his Big XII stop, Adams spent seven seasons (2015-22) as an assistant coach at Bradley. He helped the Braves to a complete rebuild that resulted in consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Championships for the first time in school history.

Adams earned Top 50 Most Impactful Mid Major Assistants distinction from Silver Waves Media in both 2020 and 2022 and was also named one of the top five assistant coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2020.

Adams played an important role in reestablishing Bradley to the peak of the Missouri Valley. He helped turn the nation’s youngest team with just five wins in 2015-16 into conference champions and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament just three years later in 2018-19 – Bradley’s first MVC Tournament title since 1988. BU then repeated as conference champions in 2020, marking the first time since 1954 and 1955 the Braves qualified for the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. He coached 10 all-conference players and seven MVC All-Freshman recipients.

Adams joined Bradley after four seasons at New Mexico, where he helped the Lobos to a 99-36 (.733) overall record, including a 45-21 (.682) tally in the Mountain West Conference. During his tenure in New Mexico, Adams helped the program to two regular-season league titles, three Mountain West postseason tournament crowns, and three top 7 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

He initially joined the staff in 2011-12 as Director of Operations for Steve Alford, was promoted to assistant coach for the 2012-13 season, and remained on Craig Neal’s staff his final two seasons.

Adams, who played for Alford during the 2006-07 season at Iowa, began his coaching career as a student assistant at Tennessee, helping the Volunteers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and the program’s first No. 1 national ranking during the 2007-08 season. After graduating from Tennessee in 2009, Adams spent two years on Tom Crean’s staff at Indiana, first as Coordinator of Basketball Systems in 2009-10 before being promoted to Director of Operations for the 2010-11 season. He also has coached on the AAU level for the Indiana Elite program.

Adams began his collegiate playing career at Florida Community College of Jacksonville where he was team captain as a sophomore in 2005-06 before transferring to Iowa.

A 2004 graduate of Bloomington High School South, Adams spent three years playing for head coach J.R. Holmes. During his senior season at South, the Panthers won Conference Indiana, and he was selected as team captain, was the team’s leading scorer, and was an all-conference selection.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Tennessee in 2009. Adams and his wife, Brooke, have three daughters, Quinn, Ava and Sloane, and one son, Nolan.

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