Drury has been one of Springfield’s top academic powerhouses since its inception in 1873. But now, as a whole new class of Panthers have settled in, Drury is turning its attention to dominating both the classroom and athletics.  

Drury Athletics has always been a dominant power, from their membership in the NAIA to their present NCAA Division II membership. Since joining the NCAA, Drury has amassed 23 team national championships, the fourth most among active Division II schools.  

In recent years, Drury has reaffirmed their commitment to athletics by adding new sports, such as women’s and men’s lacrosse, women’s and men’s rugby, stunt, and men’s hockey, to name a few.  

Adding these new sports combined with Drury’s academics allowed a record-breaking 413 freshmen to arrive on campus in 2022 (Drury University, 2022). Drury now boasts 21 NCAA Division II and 12 non-NCAA sports, a whopping 33 sports for a campus with just over 2,400 students enrolled.  

Many of these sports have boasted success in recent years as well. This past year, the women’s basketball team won their seventh consecutive Great Lakes Valley title, solidifying their history in Drury athletics and the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  

In addition, women’s basketball has gone undefeated in the conference three times. Taking it to the turf, women’s soccer has also been heating up following their 2021 GLVC conference win. They are currently the only undefeated team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the time of publication.  

To the ice, men’s ice hockey is off to the best start in program history, 4-0, as they get set to take on Maryville and SIU-Edwards at Jordan Valley Ice Park in the coming weeks.  

Lastly, following their two recent top-three finishes Drury’s triathlon team is ranked 10th by the NCAA. They are one of three Division II programs in the NCAA’s top 10.  

These athletes excel not only on the competitive field but also the academic field. This past school year, “Drury had 253 student-athletes earn Academic All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors” (Drury Panthers, 2023). Student-athletes receiving this honor met a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 for two semesters at Drury (Drury Panthers, 2023). 

Drury’s baseball team had the most student-athletes given this honor, producing 33 recipients, while volleyball honored 13 out of their 16 players (Drury Panthers, 2023). 

The success of these athletes, both on and off the competitive field, would not be possible without the administration and professors working tirelessly with student-athletes and their programs. 

In addition to the record-setting athletic accomplishments these past years, Drury athletics is also making monetary moves. For the past four years, Drury has conducted a Champion Challenge, which crowdfunds its 33 athletics programs.  

Money raised with this campaign “helps underwrite the Athletic Department” funding of all the programs (Drury Panthers, 2023). The sports and the athletes promoted this campaign and “reached the highest total in its four years, totaling $288,630” (Drury Panthers, 2023). The large external support of Drury Athletics capitalizes on the recent success and pushes for even more in the future.  

However, Drury athletics hit a stall last year when sanctions from the NCAA came down regarding the university’s failure to certify student-athletes’ eligibility. According to the NCAA, “over three academic years, Drury improperly certified eligibility for over 50 student-athletes across 14 sports” (NCAA, 2023).  

Upon the NCAA’s investigation concluded, “84 violations of NCAA rules occurred” (NCAA, 2023). As a result, through the NCAA’s negotiated resolution process, the NCAA enforcement staff and university agreed on three violation consequences.  

The first is that Drury Athletics is put on three years probation. The second is that Drury’s athletic department faces a $5,000 fine. The third, arguably the most hard-hitting for Drury’s student-athletes, is the “vacating of all records in which the student-athlete competed while ineligible” (NCAA, 2023).  

Sadly, this rips away the Drury’s men’s swimming & diving Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and their 2021 NCAA-II national runner-up finish. (NCAA, 2023). (The Director of Compliance responsible for the violations no longer works in the athletic department.)  

As for the future, Drury is looking to put behind the NCAA infractions and refocus on its goals of more athletic success while providing student-athletes with a top-tier education. In collaboration with the 150-year anniversary, Drury is continuously taking steps to provide the best environment for student-athletes. 

Featured photo by Dani Pluchinsky