Bethel College Athletic Director Tom Visker is pleased to announce that Steve Drabyn has been named as the tenth head coach in men’s basketball program history.
“Steve rose to the top of an exceptional list of candidates for this position,” stated Visker. “He has the winning experience, recruiting connections, and faith-based approach to coaching that are essential to the continued success of our men’s basketball program. We are excited about the future of our men’s basketball program under his leadership.”
Drabyn (DRAY-bin) comes to the Pilots with 14 years of coaching experience, including eight years at the NCAA Division I level, with two years as an assistant coach at Stetson from 2011-13 and most recently as an assistant coach for six seasons at Lipscomb from 2013-19.
The Pilots’ new skipper also has stops at Sewanee University of the South, Lees-McRae, and Carmel High School (Ind.), following a successful collegiate career at Belmont University where he led the NCAA Division I in free throw percentage in 2003 with 95.1-percent shooting from the charity stripe—at the time the second-best mark in NCAA DI history.
He also was a two-time Belmont co-captain and Sportsmanship Award winner and was named Atlantic Sun (ASun) Second Team All-Conference as a senior in 2004, as well as the Belmont WC Griffith Outstanding Physical Education Award, and a three-time Academic All-Conference honoree in the ASun. He was inducted into the Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
Drabyn hails from LaPorte, Indiana and was a 2000 Indiana High School Senior All-Star for the Slicers and broke the national career free throw percentage record with a mark of 92.1-percent.
“It has been a dream of mine to lead my own basketball program and I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to do it as the head men’s basketball coach at Bethel,” described Drabyn. “Thank you to Dr. Chenoweth, Dr. Visker, Tony Natali, and the rest of the committee for believing in me and trusting me to run this program. I am drawn to the mission of Bethel being a faith-based community, its outstanding academic reputation, and the strong tradition of athletics. I can’t wait to get started!”
While an assistant at Lipscomb, Drabyn oversaw CARA logs scheduling, perimeter player development, recruiting evaluations and visits, and player responsibilities on campus. He also played a key role in assisting the head coach with scouting reports, contacting recruits and unofficial and official visits, and practice scheduling.
The Bison finished the 2018-19 season with a record of 29-8, narrowly missing an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, and made a run to the National Invitational Tournament championship game before losing to Texas in the title match. They won the Atlantic Sun Regular Season championship, with a final NET ranking of 37th in the country. Since the 2016-17 season, Drabyn helped Lipscomb to a 70-30 record overall and 35-9 in the ASun and finished top ten nationally in scoring offense, three-point field goals made per game, and assists per game in 2017.
Active in faith and in the community, Drabyn has been on several mission trips, mentored in several different at-risk youth programs and elementary schools, and volunteered with homeless ministries in Nashville and with fundraisers for cancer research.
Drabyn inherits a Bethel team that went 21-11 this past season and made an appearance in the NAIA Division II National Tournament first round.
