On March 2, a likely NCAA tournament team will take on its archrival in West Philadelphia. And while it is true that Penn will be battling Princeton, the Palestra won't be the only packed gym on 33rd Street. The Quakers' neighbors to the north, the 20-3, North Atlantic Conference-leading Drexel Dragons will be the other show on this side of the Schuylkill, taking on bitter rival Delaware at the Physical Education Athletic Center at 33rd and Market. After suffering a pair of heartbreaking losses to the Blue Hens in the NAC championship game the last two years, the Dragons are looking to return to the Big Dance for the first time since their first-round loss to eventual champion Louisville in 1986. Last season it looked like NAC champion Drexel would unseat the Blue Hens in the championship game, played at the Dragons' home court and televised on ESPN. But a wrench was thrown into Drexel's plans when Anthony Wright converted a layup with 26 seconds remaining to ice Delaware's 67-64 upset. That loss, and the one the year before in the championship game in Newark, Del., kept the Dragons from going to the NCAA tourney. Both losses still burn in the minds of Drexel players. "That was our first time on national television," senior guard and captain Jim Rullo said. "I think the loss here last year with all the players returning had an impact. We're more focused this year. We have a goal to attain, we're going after it and hopefully things will fall into place for us." · The man behind Drexel's rise to the top of the NAC is 35-year-old Bill Herrion, who was no stranger to the conference when he took over the Dragons before the 1991-92 season. Herrion spent five years as an assistant to Mike Jarvis at two-time NCAA qualifier Boston University before moving with Jarvis to George Washington for the 1990-91 season. "I think the one thing Mike Jarvis exposed me to was that he's such a great communicator and a great teacher," Herrion said. "I would like to think that's one of the strengths I've taken from working with him." One player who would agree with that statement is junior guard Brian Holden, a first-team all-NAC selection last year and the team's leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points per game this season. As an assistant at BU, Herrion recruited Holden, but left for GW before he could see him blossom into the NAC freshman of the year. When Herrion was named head coach at Drexel, Holden transferred -- and Drexel basketball changed instantly. In his first game as a Dragon, Holden scored 29 points. "I saw BU as a good situation to get into with coach Herrion being there," Holden said. "I had a great relationship with him, and after he left I went through my first year at BU and I knew that wasn't the place for me. I knew I wanted a different situation and with the relationship coach Herrion and I have now and did have at the time, I felt comfortable with him and comfortable playing for him, so that's why I came here." Holden was the first piece of a puzzle that has some rather interesting pieces, like 6-foot-7 sophomore center Malik Rose, a miniature Shaquille O'Neal in his command of the glass and thundering dunks. Or defensive specialist Rullo, who started out as a baseball player and walked on before earning a basketball scholarship and becoming the captain. Rose is Drexel's career leader in dunks and a dominating inside player. Despite winning the William J. Ferguson award as the top scholar-athlete in the Philadelphia Public League at Overbrook High School, he was not recruited heavily by any Big 5 teams. "Penn sent me a letter late, but I had pretty much decided on Drexel when [Penn] started recruiting me," Rose said. "I had the chance to step in and play immediately. I got offered a scholarship and I got to stay home close to my parents. It was better than the other two schools that I [looked at] -- Lafayette and Rider." Despite scoring 13.6 points per game and pulling down 11.4 rebounds, Rose was upstaged by NAC rookie of the year Eddie Benton of Vermont, who's 23.8 average was 12th in the country. Rose, though, didn't feel shortchanged. "I got enough recognition," Rose said. "Hats off to Eddie Benton for the way he played his freshman year, but I made first team all-NAC last year as a freshman and the all-rookie team. That was enough. Eddie Benton didn't make it to the conference championship on ESPN." Herrion could only find one fault with Rose -- occasional bouts with foul trouble, but said even that was beneficial. "If you watch a Malik Rose play, a lot of his fouls are because of intensity, because of how hard he plays," Herrion said. "I don't ever want to take away his hunger or his intensity for the game. I want him to play as hard as he possibly can." Like Rose, Rullo is a local boy whose basketball prowess escaped the notice of the Philly schools -- including Drexel, who recruited him only to play baseball. "I was a baseball player first, recruited heavily out of high school," Rullo said. "I didn't come here to play basketball, but coach gave me the opportunity to play, and fortunately things fell into place." Rullo hails from a family with a rich sports heritage. His father Jerry, a member of the Temple sports Hall of Fame, was a member of the Philadelphia Warriors' NBA championship team in 1956, and his uncle Joe played second base for the Philadelphia Athletics. But for all of these offensive threats, the Dragons' main weapons are scrappy play and defense. "We really believe that good defense wins championships," Herrion said. "I really like to think that because we've become a much better defensive team, that correlates to us winning basketball games. The way we play on defense is the way Mike Jarvis's teams play on defense -- minus Yinka Dare." The Dragons defensive efforts have shown in the team's statistics. During the season, Drexel has been as high as fifth in the country in defensive field goal percentage and 15th in scoring defense. According to the team's captain, teamwork is the key. "I think we help each other out a lot," Rullo said. "If one man's getting beat, we step in and take the charge. We just do a great job collectively as a team on defense." · In just three years, Herrion has built a consistent winner out of a program that had seen some hard times in its recent past. "When I got the job three years ago, the first thing we tried to do was install a real solid work ethic in the kids," Herrion said. "We don't have the most talented players in the country, so when you're in that situation you have to make sure your players know what their strengths and weaknesses are." Now that he's established his system and solidified Drexel's presence in the NAC, Herrion is starting to look for national recognition. "I'd like to think that we're at the point in our program, being here for three years, that we've got to start to step up and play tougher opponents, just like Penn has played Ohio State and Southern Cal, and Virginia last year," Herrion said. "We need to start doing that at Drexel. I'm not saying that we could beat these people, but we owe it to our players to play those teams." Getting national recognition may be easier than getting recognition in a city dominated by Big 5 basketball. "With the Big 5 the way it is, they're going to get all the exposure with the way they play, no matter what kind of season they have," Holden said. "My first season when I transferred and we started to get better, we got more and more exposure. With the year we had last year and the year we're having this year, we've gotten more." Exposure would come easier if Drexel finally made it to the NCAA tourney. With things shaping up the way they have this season, Herrion and his squad figure to get their chance to join Penn as West Philadelphia's representatives in the NCAA tournament.
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