3 Seasons at Georgia Southern
Career Record (30 Seasons) – 488-390
Record at GS (3 Seasons) – 25-64
Head Coaching Career
Georgia Southern (2015-Pres.) – 25-64
Colorado State-Pueblo (2005-2015) – 195-100
Grand Canyon (2001-2005) – 40-69
Georgia Southwestern (1994-2001) – 151-70
Southwest Baptist (1988-94) – 77-87
Kip Drown begins his fourth season at the helm of the Georgia Southern women's basketball program. Introduced as the seventh head women’s basketball coach in Georgia Southern history on March 31, 2015 by Athletic Director Tom Kleinlein, Drown enters his 31st season as a collegiate head coach, and his fourth for the Eagles, heading into the 2018-19 campaign.
The Eagles were 5-25 overall and 2-16 in the Sun Belt Conference in 2017-18, but improved greatly over the second half of the Sun Belt season, averaging more than five points per game and five percent better shooting from the floor over the final nine games of the league slate. Georgia Southern took sixth-seeded Louisiana to triple overtime in the first round of the 2018 Sun Belt Tournament, falling 88-81 in the longest game for the Eagles since 1998.
Drown and the Eagles went 13-17 overall and 9-9 in the Sun Belt Conference in his second season with the program - improvements of six overall and five league wins from his first season in 2015-16. The nine league wins were the most for an Eagle women's basketball team since the 2010-11 season. Georgia Southern earned the sixth seed in the Sun Belt tournament and made its first appearance in the league's postseason. Seniors Patrice Butler and Angel McGowan each earned All-Conference honors on the year and the team enjoyed the friendly confines of Hanner Fieldhouse, going 8-6 on the season at home.
In his first season in Statesboro in 2015-16, Drown’s team doubled its Sun Belt Conference win total from the previous year, going 7-22 overall and 4-16 in league action including wins over rivals Georgia State and Appalachian State. Drown’s Eagles went 1-1 in overtime games and had eight of their conference losses decide by 10 or fewer points, including five by five or fewer points.
Prior to Georgia Southern, Drown was one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) as well as NCAA Division II. He departed the Division II ranks 15th amongst active coaches at that level for wins and is currently 38th all-time in NCAA Division II for wins.
Drown led the ThunderWolves of CSU-Pueblo to an overall record of 195-100 (.661) during his tenure which included four RMAC championships (2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010) as well as the 2007 RMAC Western Division crown. Drown also led the program to its first seven NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015).
During the 2011-12 season, Drown recorded his 400th career win as a collegiate head coach with a 91-73 road conference win over New Mexico Highlands on January 27, 2012, just one season after becoming the T-Wolves’ all-time winningest coach. Under Drown’s direction, his 2011-12 squad went on to tie the program record for most wins during the regular-season (21) as well as secured the school’s first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. His 2013-14 squad followed that up by tying the school record for overall wins in a season (22) and earned the program’s second at-large berth into the post season.
During the 2009-10 season, Drown and the Pack finally broke through the glass ceiling and claimed their first-ever national tournament win with a victory over the region’s two-seed, Wayne State. The previous year (2008-09), the ThunderWolves had their best season ever, going 22-9, which broke the school record for most wins in a season for the second consecutive year. The ThunderWolves also earned its third NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament berth in four seasons following its 62-42 RMAC Championship win over Colorado School of Mines, earning a six-seed in the 2009 tournament.
The 2007-08 ThunderWolves went 21-10, breaking the previous school record for most wins in a season. In claiming the RMAC Championship, they swept through two fellow NCAA Tournament teams, Fort Lewis and Nebraska-Kearney, avenging earlier losses during the regular-season.
In 2006-07, CSU-Pueblo went 17-10 overall and 13-5 in conference play as it won its first-ever RMAC West Division title and garnered the number-two seed in the RMAC Tournament.
In his first season with CSU-Pueblo, Drown led CSU-Pueblo to a 19-12 record and its first-ever RMAC Shootout crown.
Prior to his successful run in Pueblo, Colo., Drown coached for four seasons at NCAA Division II institution Grand Canyon University where he went 40-69 (.367). While at the helm of the Antelopes’ program, Drown led the program back to a winning record (16-12) during his third season (2003-04) as well as a bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament. In just four years, he took the team from only four wins in the year before he arrived to a 16-12 record in 2003-04, earning California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coach of the Year Honors for his efforts.
Before heading out west, Drown was the head women’s basketball coach at then NAIA program Georgia Southwestern State in Americus, Ga. In his seven years as the head skipper of the Hurricanes he posted a record of 151-70 (.683) and took five of his teams to the NAIA National Tournament. His teams were also frequently ranked in the nation’s top-25.
In five of his seven seasons in Americus, Drown’s teams posted at least 20 wins including his last four seasons when the ‘Canes went 92-40 (.697). Drown and the Hurricanes won the Great American Conference (GAC) championship three times in 1996, 1998 and 199 and were conference finalists in 1995 and 1997.
Drown began his collegiate head coaching career at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. There, he completed his first turnaround of a program as he turned the Bearcats into proven winners as he helped with the growing pains associated with making the jump from NAIA to NCAA Division II. In six seasons in Bolivar, Drown’s teams went 77-87 (.470) including 47-35 (.573) over his last three years with the program. In 2001, his team earned the school’s first-ever weekly national ranking (11th).
Before becoming a successful collegiate women’s coach, Drown coached varsity high school boy’s basketball in his home state of Missouri for five years, ending his time with an overall record of 97-38 (.719) between Licking High School (1979-83) and Rock Bridge High School (1983-84). His 1981-82 Licking HS squad posted a 24-game winning streak and claimed three tournament titles. The following year, his team finished second in the AA – Missouri State Tournament.
Drown earned his bachelor’s (1977) and master’s (1981) degrees from Southwest Missouri State University.
Drown’s wife Gina is a native of Dublin, Ga. Together they have five children - Christie, Cassie, Kyle, Ashlee (a graduate of Georgia Southern) and Laura - as well as nine grandchildren. Gina and Kip reside in Statesboro.
