Back home again: Drew Adams’ 14-year journey comes full circle in Bloomington

Fourteen years, four college programs, five NCAA Tournament appearances and one long journey later, Drew Adams is finally home. After nearly a decade and a half away, the Bloomington native is back home again in Indiana.

Joining Darian DeVries’ staff as an assistant coach at Indiana, Adams brings with him a career’s worth of experience, a deep web of recruiting ties, and a perspective shaped by years of grinding through the ranks of college basketball.

But for Adams, this isn’t just another job — it’s a return to the place where his basketball story began.

“It feels good, it’s a little surreal still,” Adams said recently on the Players Perspective podcast, presented by Hoosiers Connect. “I’ve enjoyed being back.”

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Adams’ connection to Indiana runs deep. He’s a 2004 graduate of Bloomington High School South, where he played under legendary head coach J.R. Holmes.

A captain and all-conference performer, Adams was known for his toughness and leadership — traits that would later come to define his coaching philosophy.

After high school, Adams played two seasons at Florida Community College of Jacksonville, serving as team captain in his second year. He then transferred to Iowa in 2006 to play under Steve Alford, a figure who would become a mentor and catalyst for Adams’ future in coaching.

“It was awesome, I learned a ton from Coach Alford,” Adams said. “Then he also gave me my first assistant job at New Mexico.”

That first job came after Adams began his coaching journey as a student assistant at Tennessee, where he was part of a program that reached the NCAA Tournament and held the No. 1 national ranking for the first time in school history.

After graduating in 2009, Adams joined Tom Crean’s staff at Indiana during the program’s early rebuild years. First as Coordinator of Basketball Systems and then as Director of Operations, Adams helped establish crucial recruiting ties.

His time under Crean was the start of a reputation he’s carried ever since. Adams is known as a connector, a grinder, a recruiter who knows how to build.

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After his two years at Indiana, Adams rejoined Alford at New Mexico, where success followed quickly.

The Lobos went 99-36 over Adams’ four seasons in Albuquerque, capturing two Mountain West regular season titles, three tournament crowns, and earning three top-7 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. In 2012, he was promoted to a full assistant coaching role.

From there, Adams moved to Bradley, where his impact was immediate. He helped transform a five-win team into back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference champions in 2019 and 2020. Bradley hadn’t made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances since 1954 and 1955.

Adams then joined Cincinnati in 2022, just before the program’s move to the Big 12. There, he continued to refine his approach — one shaped by years of seeing the game from every possible angle.

“I feel like I’ve seen it from a lot of different angles,” Adams said. “It’s been really fun to see kind of how everything works and to appreciate the job every single person does — from the managers on to the head coach.”

Now, Adams returns to Indiana with more than just coaching credentials. He brings with him one of the most valuable assets in college basketball: deep-rooted recruiting ties in the state of Indiana.

His father, Mark Adams, is the program director of Indiana Elite, the AAU powerhouse that has helped produce several recent Hoosiers, including Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal.

Those connections — and his long-standing presence in the Midwest — make him a critical addition to DeVries’ new staff.

But it’s not just about who he knows. Adams brings a clear philosophy of what he looks for in players, and it starts with qualities that go beyond the stat sheet.

“The ability to be part of a team and the ability to be selfless,” Adams said. “Being able to be part of a team, but also winning. I think winning is an under recruited thing… I think that’s a trait that some people don’t always look for.”

At the core of it all, Adams believes toughness remains essential.

“I think toughness is still one of the biggest things,” he added. “I think we’ll have a lot of kids that will be tough.”

Now back in Bloomington, this time with a family of his own, Adams is once again walking familiar streets and stepping into the same gyms where his basketball journey began.

“Obviously my family and IU,” Adams said when asked what he missed the most during his time away. “A couple of food spots and also the spring and the fall here in Bloomington.”

The journey that took him from student assistant to seasoned recruiter, from Florida to New Mexico to Illinois and Ohio, has shaped him into a coach with perspective, patience, and purpose.

And now, he’s brought it all back home.

“Seeing different places… it’s been a learning experience at everywhere I’ve been,” Adams said. “I really did enjoy the journey — as corny as that can sound.”

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