Drury Panthers
{{Short description|Athletic teams of Drury University}}
{{Infobox college athletics
| name = Drury Panthers
| logo = Drury Panthers logo.svg
| logo_width = 200
| university = Drury University
| association = NCAA
| conference = GLVC (primary)
| division = Division II
| director = Nyla Milleson{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/drury-names-former-lady-panthers-201949620.html |title=Yahoo! News |access-date=2022-03-28}}
| location = Springfield, Missouri
| first season =
| teams = 29
| mens_teams = 13
| womens_teams = 15
| coed_teams = 1
| basketballarena = O'Reilly Family Event Center
| baseballfield =
| soccerstadium =
| mascot =
| nickname = Panthers
| pageurl = https://drurypanthers.com/
| altlogo = 150px
}}
The Drury Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Drury University, located in Springfield, Missouri, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for all 21 varsity sports. Drury has been a member of the GLVC since 2005.
Varsity teams
=List of teams=
{{Col-begin|width=auto}}
{{Col-break}}
Men's sports (10)
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cross country
- Golf
- Soccer
- Swimming and diving
- Tennis
- Track and field (indoor)
- Track and field (outdoor)
- Wrestling
{{Col-break|gap=5em}}
Women's sports (11)
- Basketball
- Bowling {{Cite web|url=http://www.drurypanthers.com/?path=wbowl|title = Women's Bowling}}
- Cross country
- Golf
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming and diving
- Tennis
- Track and field (indoor)
- Track and field (outdoor)
- Volleyball
{{col-end}}
National championships
The Panthers have twenty-three NCAA team national championships, the fourth-most among active Division II athletics program (Saint Augustine's, Adams State, and Florida Southern have more).
=Team=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| {{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Drury Panthers|Sport|Association|Division|Year|Opponent|Score}} |
| align="center"
|rowspan="1"| Men's basketball (1) |rowspan="1"| NCAA |rowspan="1"| Division II |2013 |74–73 |
| align="center"
|rowspan="22"| Men's swimming and diving (22) |rowspan="10"| NAIA (10) |rowspan="10"| Single |1981 |483–304 |
| align="center"
|1982 |Denver |456–301 |
| align="center"
|1985 |368–350 |
| align="center"
|1988 |494–329.5 |
| align="center"
|1989 |632.5–410.5 |
| align="center"
|1990 |634–376 |
| align="center"
|1991 |631.5–630 |
| align="center"
|1992 |Simon Fraser |779.5–493 |
| align="center"
|1993 |Puget Sound |602.5–487 |
| align="center"
|1994 |Puget Sound |813.5–507 |
| align="center"
|rowspan="12"| Division II | 1999 | rowspan="4" | Cal State Bakersfield | 829–557 |
| align="center"
| 2003 | 612–535 |
| align="center"
| 2005 | 726–480 |
| align="center"
| 2006 | 649–543½ |
| align="center"
| 2007 | 521½–500 |
| align="center"
| 2008 | 523½–336 |
| align="center"
| 2009 | 543–504½ |
| align="center"
| 2010 | 538–403 |
| align="center"
| 2011 | rowspan="2" | UC San Diego | 600½–345 |
| align="center"
| 2012 | 473–400 |
| align="center"
| 2013 | rowspan="2" | Florida Southern | 546–397 |
| align="center"
| 2014 | 569½–361 |
| align="center"
|rowspan="13"| Women's swimming and diving (13) |rowspan="3"| NAIA (3) |rowspan="3"| Single |1992 |621–583 |
| align="center"
|1993 |Puget Sound |637–630.5 |
| align="center"
|1994 |Puget Sound |726–576 |
| align="center"
|rowspan="10"| NCAA (10) |rowspan="10"| Division II{{cite web|title=NCAA Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Results |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/swimming_champs_records/2014-15/D2women14.pdf |work=NCAA|publisher=NCAA.org|access-date=January 16, 2016}} | 1997 | Oakland | 690½–460 |
| align="center"
| 1998 | 578½–386 |
| align="center"
| 1999 | 613–603½ |
| align="center"
| 2000 | rowspan="2" | Truman State | 663–556 |
| align="center"
| 2007 | 646½–518 |
| align="center"
| 2009 | rowspan="5" | Wayne State | 618½–453½ |
| align="center"
| 2010 | 657–531 |
| align="center"
| 2011 | 483½–388 |
| align="center"
| 2013 | 432½–388 |
| align="center"
| 2014 | 486–419 |
Individual teams
=Baseball=
Baseball, in hiatus since the 1970s, was reorganized for the 2007 season by new head coach Mark Stratton. Bill Virdon was the first Panther to make a start. Trevor Richards was the first alum to pitch a Major League Baseball win, for the Miami Marlins. The team plays home games at U.S. Baseball Park in nearby Ozark, Missouri.{{cite web |url=https://drurypanthers.com/facilities/us-baseball-park/2 |title=U.S. Baseball Park |website=drurypanthers.com |accessdate=August 6, 2022}}
=Basketball=
Mike Carter played for the Drury Panthers, who in 1978–79 were 33–2 and won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship as he won the 1979 NAIA basketball tournament's Charles Stevenson Hustle Award, and who over his two seasons with the team were 62–6.[http://www.naiahonors.org/records/MBBDIChampionshipHistory1223.pdf "NAIA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL"] He holds the school's two-year record in rebounds (480).{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/drurysid/docs/mbb/42|title=Drury Men's Basketball Guide 2008-09|website=Issuu}} He was inducted into the Drury Panthers Hall of Fame in 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://drurypanthers.com/hof.aspx?hof=74&kiosk=true|title=Mike Carter (2008) - Hall of Fame|website=Drury University Athletics}}
On April 7, 2013, Drury won the Division II Men's National Championship in Basketball, defeating Metro State of Denver 74–73 after rallying from a 17-point deficit. The Panthers won their final 23 games of the season – a school record – to finish 31–4 on the season. They also captured their second Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and first NCAA Division II Midwest Regional along the way.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/22028146/halls-fts-lift-drury-past-metro-state-7473|title=Hall's FTs lift Drury past Metro State, 74-73|date=7 April 2013|work=CBSSports.com}} In keeping with recent custom, the Division II champions were invited to play an exhibition game against Duke University.{{cite web|url=http://collegebasketball.ap.org/article/div-ii-champion-drury-gets-invitation-duke|title=Div. II champion Drury gets invitation from Duke|work=NCAA Men's Basketball}}
On June 24, 2021, Drury announced former NBA player Chris Carr will join the Panthers coaching staff as an assistant.{{cite web|url=https://www.ozarkssportszone.com/2021/06/24/drury-mens-basketball-adds-former-nba-player-to-coaching-staff/|title=DRURY MEN'S BASKETBALL ADDS FORMER NBA PLAYER TO COACHING STAFF}}
=Swimming and diving=
Also in 2007, Drury men's swimming head coach Brian Reynolds was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://drurypanthers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=192|title=Drury Athletics - 2012-13 Men's Swim & Dive Coaching Staff|work=drurypanthers.com}}
=Wrestling=
In 2016, Drury began fielding a wrestling program, the first in the Ozarks region in over 20 years. The addition gave the GLVC the required minimum of six teams to hold a conference championship tournament, and it added the sport in the 2016–17 season.