Drake University has named Amy Stephens as the school’s new womens’ basketball coach. Stephens spent the past season as an assistant at Nebraska and prior to that spent eight seasons as a head coach at Nebraska-Kearney. She decided against pursuing the job three years ago when Lisa Bluder went to Iowa but says the timing was right this time. Stephens takes over a Bulldog program that reached the N-C-A-A tournament’s sweet-16 in 2002. Stephens says she loves March when you can see a Cinderella school like Drake in the NCAA tournament. Stephens says she believes Drake is a place that can become a great home.” Three starters return from last season’s team that finished 16-12. She says there’s no doubt there’ll be high expectations for next year’s team. Stephens replaces Lisa Stone who resigned to become the new coach at Wisconsin. Drake athletic director Dave Blank is not concerned that the Drake job may be viewed as a stepping stone. Blank says it’s flattering to Drake to have people move on “for the right reason.” He says Stephens is committed to the program and the future.
