# 1995–96 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team

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
### Departures

| 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

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) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Ross Neisler G | Norwalk, CT | Norwalk High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: 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. ||||||

## Schedule

| 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) | Postponed (Blizzard of 96) | Postponed (Blizzard of 96) | Postponed (Blizzard of 96) | 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

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
### 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)