Bryce Drew did not choose to attend church when he was a boy. That was just what the family did.
His parents, Homer and Janet, led the family's faith and their three children happily followed.
But Drew chose his walk upon being diagnosed with tachycardia, a type of arrhythmia with accelerated heartbeat, in eighth grade.
That spring, college basketball star Hank Gathers, also was afflicted with tachycardia, collapsed and died during a Loyola Marymount game. The Drews were fearful of heart procedures that were new at the time and elected for Drew to take medication.
The medicine left Drew constantly fatigued, even as the rapid pulse rate and shortness of breath continued into his high school freshman year in Valparaiso, Indiana, where his father was a College Basketball Hall of Fame coach.
"All I wanted to do was play college basketball," the new Grand Canyon men's basketball head coach said. The Drews (Scott, Homer, Bryce)
With Drew's heartbeat topping out at 250 beats per minute, the Valparaiso High freshman underwent the first of three surgeries over a span of eight months.
"The biggest impact was when I was laying on the operating table having a heart surgery," Drew said. "The doctor said I could come out and have a pacemaker and not be able to play sports competitively again. I also could not have even come out because it was such a new procedure."
On the operating table, his mother gave him a Bible verse, Psalm 46:10, which reads, "Be still and know that I am God."
"I remember saying that verse to myself and thinking, 'I really don't have any control of this. I don't know what's going to happen with my life,' " Drew said. "Pretty much at that point is when I gave my life to Christ. I believe in this and this is my faith. That was the starting point. It's a journey with ups and downs. That's the great thing about God. He's a redeeming God and can give you grace."
Drew returned several months later for another surgery. With multiple arrhythmias, the strongest one only shows. After a Tuesday surgery, he was playing 3-on-3 backyard basketball when another arrhythmia surfaced in his atrium, but at a less threatening pace of 150 beats per minute.
Since that third and final surgery, he has needed to visit his heart surgeon once.
Drew went on to a legendary playing career for his father's team at Valparaiso, became a two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year, made the All-America third team and played six NBA seasons after being a first-round draft pick.
"When I'd go to play in the gym or go to work out, there was a thankfulness to be able to do those things," Drew said. "Before, you go play and you think everybody gets to do it. There was a lot more gratitude in my life and thankfulness to be able to do the things that I could do after that."
Drew became involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and an abstinence club during his collegiate playing career and later played for Athletes in Action, an international ministry through games.
He looked up to former NBA All-Star Mark Price for his openness with faith and followed suit, putting God at the center of the teams he coached at faith-based universities Valparaiso and Vanderbilt. His teams prayed before practices and held chapel before games, often offering his favorite Bible verse, Colossians 3:23, to help his players endure the highs and low of a season.
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