Team of the Ozarks: NCAA II power Drury continues to win with local talent

It didn't take clairvoyance for Amy Eagan to see what was coming.

Before she wasthe latest Drury women's basketball coach to have the Panthers in the national title conversation, Eagan was the all-time wins leader at fellow NCAA Division II member Truman State in Kirksville, a four-hour trek from the Springfield school and a world away in facility budget.

Few schools in the second rung of college basketball have a lavish O'Reilly Events Center, or the willing donors, but Drury had that luxury.

Eagan was fresh off a national tournament appearance in 2019 when opting leave Truman State and be an assistant under then-Drury coach Molly Miller, a career move that, on the surface, appeared short of lateral.

It proved to be one of the most shrewd decisions of her basketball life.

"(Miller) and I had conversations, and I knew there was a possibility of me either taking over one of the best− if not the best − Division II programs in the country if she left, or going with her wherever she was going to go because she was such a good young coach," Eagan said.

A year later, Miller, a two-time Division II National Coach of the Year, made a predictable Division I ascent to Grand Canyon. Eagan was given the keys to the Great Lakes Valley Conference juggernaut, reaching the national championship game her first year.

Year 3 could be similar. Second-ranked Drury (31-1) opens the national tournament on Friday in Ashland, Ohio against Lewis, the first step in its quest to Dallas, host of the April 1 title round.

There have been five head coaches since the Drury program's 2000 inception under Nyla Milleson, the school's current athletic director, each bringing their own set of philosophies and principles that have helped the Panthers become a small college power with immediacy.

One of their similar cornerstones? Recruit the Ozarks hard and often, and a look at the program's list of past All-American conveys that approach.

Hailey Diestelkamp (Owensville), Annie Armstrong (Kickapoo), Miller (Kickapoo), Amanda Newton (Republic) and Hope Hunt (Nixa) are among the local figures that have helped elevate Drury into an established Division II brand during their All-American careers. Several more earned All-Conference distinction.

The 2022-2023 edition of Drury − a team whose single loss was in November to No. 1 Ashland 68-67 in overtime−is stocked to the brim with former Ozarks stars.

Former Skyline sharp-shooter and Class 2 Player of the Year Kaylee DaMitz-Holt, a graduate senior, averages 16.7 points and over three assists. Alana Findley, a senior from Fair Grove, averages 14.3 points and six rebounds. Allie Clevenger (8 ppg), guard from Clever, is also a starter. DaMitz-Holt and Findley earned All-GLVC.

Former El Dorado Springs star Reece Schaaf, the 2022 Class 3 Player of the Year, was the GLVC Freshman of the Year this season, averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds. Former area standouts Madi Braden (Ozark), Anna Hitt (Ozark) and Rhi Gibbons (Nixa) have helped provide depth.

Winning at Drury means a little more to this group.

"We all played here during the Pink and White Tournament in high school, and we got a taste of what it was like to play in this arena, so to be able and come here is a really cool experience," DaMitz-Holt said.

Findley agreed.

"It's exciting for us to be able to fill the (O'Reilly Event Center) with a bunch of family and friends, people who have watched you play since we were little," Findley said.

Drury, which has won seven straight GLVC titles, welcomes the best available talent that fits in its system, such a Illinois State transfer Terrion Moore, the league's defensive player of the year

If Eagan can get a recruit from the girls basketball-rich Southwest Missouri, she will.

"We're really lucky that the high school basketball in this area is so good on the girls side, with great high school coaches," Eagan said. "All of our recruiting is going to start local, if we're able to do that."

Playing at home for a Division II winner carried more weight for players like Findley on the recruiting trail than possibly setting on a Division I program that doesn't carry a similar winning tradition or familiarity

"I think a lot of us could have played Division I, but we all love to win" she said. "It boiled down to more than getting to say you played Division I."

Eagan agreed.

"If you take the level out of it, and the experience our kids get, it's unmatched," said Eagan said, the GLVC Coach of the Year. "Playing in front of sizable crowds, having an ample support staff. It's a great place to be."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: NCAA II power Drury continues to win with local talent