1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team

1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball
1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball
NAC regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	North Atlantic Conference
Record	27–4 (17–1 NAC)
Head coach	Bill Herrion (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Steve Seymour (5th season); Monté Ross (2nd season); John O’Connor (3rd season);
Captains	Malik Rose; Jeff Myers;
Home arena	Daskalakis Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Drexel †	17	–	1	.944	27	–	4	.871
Boston University	13	–	5	.722	18	–	11	.621
Maine	11	–	7	.611	15	–	13	.536
Delaware	11	–	7	.611	15	–	12	.556
Towson State	11	–	7	.611	16	–	12	.571
Vermont	10	–	8	.556	12	–	15	.444
Hofstra	5	–	13	.278	9	–	18	.333
New Hampshire	5	–	13	.278	6	–	21	.222
Hartford	5	–	13	.278	6	–	22	.214
Northeastern	2	–	16	.111	4	–	24	.143

† 1996 NAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team represented Drexel University during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dragons, led by 5th year head coach Bill Herrion, played their home games at the Daskalakis Athletic Center and were members of the North Atlantic Conference (which has since changed name).

In the 1995–96 season, the Dragons won a school record 27 games, won the North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament for the third season in a row, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in school history, and also won the school's first ever NCAA Tournament game in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Drexel accomplished a 21 game home winning streak, dating back to the 1993–94 season, ending in a loss against Boston University on January 26.

After reaching the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, the Dragons lost to Syracuse by a score of 58–69. Syracuse would go on to finish runner–up in the tournament, losing to Kentucky in the National Championship.

In the 1995–96 season, Malik Rose broke Drexel's individual single season record for rebounds with 409 in 31 games.

Offseason[edit]

Departures[edit]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Leland Redmond		G	5'11"		Freshman	Houston, TX	Transferred to Texas Southern
Jason Yoder	55	C	6'10"		Freshman		Signed to the Philadelphia Phillies

1995 recruiting class[edit]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Mike DeRocckis C	Spotswood, NJ	McCorristin Catholic High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)
Mike DeRocckis C	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Ross Neisler G	Norwalk, CT	Norwalk High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
Ross Neisler G	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Drexel 1995 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "Drexel Dragons". ESPN.com. "1995 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster[edit]

1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F/C	00	Malik Rose (C)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Sr	Overbrook HS (Philadelphia)	Philadelphia, PA
G	3	Dimitris Stefanidis	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So	Filothei	Athens, Greece
G	5	Greg Gaffney	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	—	Fr	Christian Brothers Academy	Lincroft, NJ
G	15	Mike DeRocckis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	McCorristin HS	Spotswood, NJ
G	21	Ross Neisler	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Norwalk HS (CT)	Norwalk, CT
F	23	David Frey	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr	Rockhurst HS	Kansas City, MO
G	24	Jeff Myers (C)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	RS Jr	South Philadelphia HS/St. Francis (NY)	Philadelphia, PA
F	30	George Hudgins	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr	Chattanooga Arts & Sciences	Chattanooga, TN
G	31	Cornelius Overby	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Sr	Herbert H. Lehman HS	Bronx, NY
F	33	Brahin Riley	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Northeast HS (Philadelphia)	Philadelphia, PA
G/F	34	Karl Fischer (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	RS Jr	Newtown HS (CT)	Newtown, CT
F	44	John Randall (W)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Fr	Woodrow Wilson HS (NJ)	Camden, NJ
F	55	Chuck Guittar	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	RS Jr	Paul VI HS/New Haven	Audubon, NJ

Head coach

Bill Herrion (Merrimack)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 27, 1995* 7:00 pm		Saint Anselm	W 82–59	1–0	–	–	–	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,112) Philadelphia, PA
December 1, 1995* 9:00 pm		vs. Murray State Purdue Tournament semifinals	L 75–76	1–1	–	–	–	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
December 2, 1995* 6:00 pm		vs. Illinois–Chicago Purdue Tournament 3rd place game	W 83–72	2–1	–	–	–	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
December 7, 1995 7:30 pm		at Vermont	W 97–58	3–1 (1–0)	–	–	–	Patrick Gym (1,825) Burlington, VT
December 9, 1995 2:00 pm		at Hartford	W 79–72 ^OT	4–1 (2–0)	–	–	–	Chase Arena (568) Hartford, CT
December 23, 1995* 7:00 pm		at Oklahoma	L 78–85	4–2	–	–	–	Lloyd Noble Center (8,562) Norman, OK
December 29, 1995* 8:00 pm		vs. James Madison Bobcat Holiday Stores Classic semifinals	W 75–55	5–2	21 – DeRocckis	17 – Rose	3 – Myers	Worthington Arena (6,407) Bozeman, MT
December 30, 1995* 10:00 pm		at Montana State Bobcat Holiday Stores Classic championship	W 68–62	6–2	–	–	–	Worthington Arena (6,611) Bozeman, MT
January 6, 1996 3:30 pm		at Hofstra	W 100–71	7–2 (3–0)	20 – Myers	11 – Rose	–	Hofstra Physical Fitness Center (1,623) Hempstead, NY
January 8, 1996* 7:30 pm		at Lehigh	Postponed (Blizzard of 96)					Stabler Arena Bethlehem, PA
January 11, 1996 7:00 pm		New Hampshire	W 110–68	8–2 (4–0)	–	–	–	Daskalakis Athletic Center (802) Philadelphia, PA
January 13, 1996 1:00 pm		Maine	W 88–70	9–2 (5–0)	–	–	–	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,216) Philadelphia, PA
January 16, 1996 9:00 pm		vs. Delaware	W 91–75	10–2 (6–0)	–	–	–	CoreStates Spectrum (7,877) Philadelphia, PA
January 18, 1996 7:00 pm		at Northeastern	W 87–65	11–2 (7–0)	27 – Rose	–	–	Matthews Arena (610) Boston, MA
January 20, 1996 1:00 pm		at Boston University	W 67–47	12–2 (8–0)	24 – Rose	8 – Overby	6 – Myers	Case Gym (1,634) Boston, MA
January 26, 1996 7:00 pm		Boston University	L 74–76	12–3 (8–1)	28 – Rose	21 – Rose	6 – Overby	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,147) Philadelphia, PA
January 28, 1996 1:00 pm		Northeastern	W 84–47	13–3 (9–1)	25 – Myers	9 – Myers	7 – Myers	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,323) Philadelphia, PA
February 2, 1996 7:30 pm		at New Hampshire	W 87–75	14–3 (10–1)	35 – Myers	11 – Myers	4 – Myers	Lundholm Gym (1,790) Durham, NH
February 4, 1996 12:00 pm		Maine	W 73–52	15–3 (11–1)	20 – Rose	12 – Rose	5 – Myers	Alfond Arena (2,316) Orono, ME
February 7, 1996 8:00 pm		Towson State	W 96–87	16–3 (12–1)	25 – Rose	14 – Rose	4 – Guittar	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,006) Philadelphia, PA
February 10, 1996 8:00 pm		Hofstra	W 93–63	17–3 (13–1)	29 – Rose	11 – Rose	6 – Overby	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,300) Philadelphia, PA
February 12, 1996*		at Lehigh Rescheduled from January 8th	W 93–73	18–3	27 – Rose	20 – Rose	5 – Myers	Stabler Arena (508) Bethlehem, PA
February 16, 1996 7:30 pm		at Towson State	W 75–56	19–3 (14–1)	–	–	–	Towson Center (1,950) Towson, MD
February 18, 1996 3:15 pm		at Delaware	W 82–78	20–3 (15–1)	34 – Rose	–	–	Bob Carpenter Center (4,640) Newark, DE
February 20, 1996* 7:00 pm	No. RV	at UMBC	W 87–55	21–3	–	–	–	Retriever Activities Center (626) Catonsville, MD
February 23, 1996 7:00 pm	No. RV	Vermont	W 86–59	22–3 (16–1)	–	–	–	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,201) Philadelphia, PA
February 25, 1996 1:00 pm	No. RV	Hartford	W 74–56	23–3 (17–1)	–	–	–	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,120) Philadelphia, PA
1996 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament
March 2, 1996 2:00 pm	(1)	vs. (9) Hartford Quarterfinal	W 73-62	24–3	–	–	–	Bob Carpenter Center (4,786) Newark, DE
March 3, 1996 1:00 pm	(1)	vs. (5) Towson State Semifinal	W 84–74	25–3	–	–	–	Bob Carpenter Center (3,970) Newark, DE
March 7, 1996 5:00 pm, ESPN2	(1)	(2) Boston University Championship	W 76–67	26–3	22 – Rose	19 – Rose	5 – Myers	Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,300) Philadelphia, PA
1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
March 14, 1996* CBS	(12 W)	vs. (5 W) No. 16 Memphis First Round	W 75–63	27–3	21 – Rose	15 – Rose	5 – Myers	The Pit (14,762) Albuquerque, NM
March 16, 1996* 7:00 pm, CBS	(12 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 13 Syracuse Second Round	L 58–69	27–4	18 – Myers	15 – Rose	2 – 3 Tied	The Pit (15,792) Albuquerque, NM
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movement
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Post	Final
AP															RV	RV	RV	RV	N/A
Coaches								RV	RV		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

Awards[edit]

Bill Herrion

NAC Coach of the Year

Mike Derocckis

NAC Rookie of the Year
NAC All-Rookie Team
NAC Rookie of the Week (4)

Jeff Myers

NAC All-Conference First Team
NAC All-Tournament Team
NAC Player of the Week

Cornelius Overby

NAC All-Tournament Team

Malik Rose

NAC Player of the Year
NAC Tournament Most Valuable Player
NAC All-Conference First Team
NAC Player of the Week (2)

References[edit]

v t e Drexel Dragons men's basketball
Venues	Main Building (1894–1928) Curtis Hall Gym (1928–1952) Palestra (1949–1951, 3 games; 1987–1988 alternate) Sayre Junior High School (1951–1969) 32nd Street Armory (1969–1975) Daskalakis Athletic Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	Penn
Culture & lore	Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) City 6 Mario the Magnificent "Drexel Fight Song" DAC Pack
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25