The 2018–19 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by first-year head coach Darian DeVries. They played their home games at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 12–6 to earn a share of the MVC regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Illinois State before losing to Northern Iowa in the semifinals. They received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Southern Utah.

Previous season The Bulldogs finished the 2017–18 season 17–17, 10–8 in MVC play to finish in to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Bradley. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Abilene Christian in the first round in a game referred to as the Lou Henson Classic. In the second round they were defeated by Northern Colorado.

On March 22, 2018, it was announced that head coach Niko Medved had accepted the head coaching position at Colorado State, where he had previously served as an assistant. A week after Medved's departure, Drake hired Creighton assistant and Iowa native Darian DeVries for the head coaching job.

Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure C. J. Rivers 0 G 6'2" 187 Senior Cahokia, IL Graduated Jalen Gibbs 2 G 6'3" 180 Freshman Waldorf, MD Transferred to Mount St. Mary's Graham Woodward 3 G 6'0" 182 RS Senior Edina, MN Graduated De'Antae McMurray 4 G 6'2" 170 Senior Alton, IL Graduated Reed Timmer 12 G 6'1" 185 Senior New Berlin, WI Graduated Casey Schlatter 22 F 6'10" 207 RS Junior Iowa Falls, IA Graduate transferred to Grand View Ore Arogundade 23 G 6'3" 185 Senior Arlington Heights, IL Graduated Kory Kuenstling 32 F/C 6'11" 234 RS Junior Dunketon, IA Graduate transferred to Grand View

Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School D. J. Wilkins 0 G 6'2" 170 RS Freshman Merrillville, IN Junior college transferred from Florida SouthWestern State College Tremell Murphy 2 F 6'6" 205 Junior Griffith, IN Junior college transferred from Florida SouthWestern State College Anthony Murphy 4 G 6'5" 185 Junior Griffith, IN Junior college transferred from Florida SouthWestern State College 12 G 5'11" 180 Sophomore Calumet City, IL Transferred from Siena. Under NCAA transfer rules, Penn will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. Nick Norton 20 G 5'10" 166 RS Senior Bloomington, IL Transferred from UAB. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from UAB. Brady Ellingson 24 G 6'4" 193 RS Senior Menomonee Falls, WI Transferred from Iowa. Was eligible to play immediately since he graduated from Iowa.

2018 recruiting class

2019 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition

!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=9 style=| MVC regular season

!colspan=9 style=| MVC tournament

!colspan=12 style=|CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament

Source

References