Following his father's retirement in 2002, Drew would serve as the head coach of Valparaiso for one season before being hired by Baylor in 2003.

Drew took over Baylor as a program in ruins, following decades of mediocre-to-poor performance and a public scandal that resulted in numerous NCAA sanctions.

[2][3][4][5] Drew graduated from Butler University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts.

[6] Although he never played college basketball at the varsity level, Drew spent two years as a student assistant for the men's basketball team, and also played on the men's tennis team but did not earn a letter.

He spent nine years in this position, during which he earned a master's degree from Valparaiso and a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the nation.

On August 22, 2003, Drew took the head coaching position of the men's team at Baylor University after the resignation of Dave Bliss due to scandal.

Additionally, Baylor had placed itself on probation until 2005 and withdrawn from postseason play for the 2003–04 season.

Shortly after Drew's first season, Baylor extended its self-imposed probation until 2006 and docked itself several scholarships and paid recruiting visits through 2006.

At the end of the regular season, when Drew made an appearance on the sports show Pardon The Interruption (PTI), host Tony Kornheiser suggested on the air that Drew be voted "unanimous coach of the year."

After the season, Drew signed a 10-year contract extension to stay the head coach of the Bears.

The Big 12 coaches picked Drew's squad to finish fourth in the conference.

The team then made it to the Elite 8 before losing to the national championship-winning Duke Blue Devils.

Hours before the game, Baylor was informed that star player, Perry Jones III, would not be allowed to play for accepting impermissible benefits, a decision that was later reversed.

In 2011–12, the Bears started the season 17–0 and rose to third in the AP Poll and the coaches' poll—the highest weekly rankings in school history at that time.

They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Kentucky.

In April 2012, the NCAA put the Baylor men's and women's basketball programs on three years probation and implemented scholarship reductions after an investigation revealed major recruiting violations and impermissible involvement of talent scouts at the basketball clinics they hosted.

[12] Drew, who issued a statement accepting full responsibility for the infractions, was cited for failure to monitor the men's program[13] and suspended by the Big 12 for the first two conference games in the 2012–13 season.