Drew Peterson's Magical Ride To The Elite Eight
How a Chicagoland hoops star went from the transfer portal to one victory from the Final Four
(Photo Credit: University of Southern California Men’s Basketball)
Late into the night Sunday, the University of Southern California men’s basketball team played the University of Oregon in the Round of 16 at the NCAA tournament.
The Trojans, a No. 6 seed in the West Region, were well in control of the Ducks early in the second half.
Leading 49-32 with just over 16 minutes remaining, Trojans junior guard Drew Petersen found the ball in his hands just beyond the three point arc. He fired an open shot that swished through the net that put USC up by 20 points.
A camera panned to Peterson, his ‘hero’ image on the screen.
What Peterson projected was nothing but pure joy.
We are rapidly entering a collegiate sports world where the concept of amateurism will be extinct. With billions of dollars being exchanged between the NCAA and television partners this spring, not a penny of which will go to the labor providing the entertainment, moments not clouded by cynicism over the one-sided dynamic of it all are hard to come by.
Peterson gave us one Sunday night.
How the former Libertyville High School star got to be in the position of providing pleasurable moments for millions of viewers is a story of determination and endurance along with what happens when a young adult places a bet on a person we all have at some point in our lives.
Ourselves.
In the spring of 2020, Peterson made a live-changing decision.
After his second year at Rice University (Houston), Peterson decided to transfer.
A 6-foot-8 guard, Peterson had signed with Rice out of Libertyville in 2018. As a Wildcat, Peterson was a scoring and rebounding machine, averaging over 26 points and 8.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists his senior year. At Rice, Peterson led the Owls in rebounding and averaged over 11 points per game in 2019-20, his sophomore season.
But Peterson aspired to a higher level of competition than the Owls’ conference, Conference USA. While in high school, Peterson did not sign with Rice in the early November period of his senior year, 2017-18, desirous of a Power 5 offer. It never came.
After two seasons playing Division 1 basketball, his body and skill set strengthened, he wanted to test the waters in hopes of finding a Power 5 program. He put his name in the transfer portal.
Peterson said this to the Chicago Tribune at the time of his transfer announcement:
Just from talking to my family, I’m trying to focus on finding the right system and coaching style to fit my game. Given these weird recruiting days, I’m going to take my time and have no timetable and am open to all suitors. I’m also open to anything, not affected whether I sit out or not. A year of development at a bigger school would help me a lot.”
The comment provided a window into Peterson’s dual motivations for leaving Rice. He wanted to play right away for his next team but also knew there were areas of his game where he needed to improve.
If the NCAA did not grant him an immediate transfer waiver, forcing him to sit out a season, a year off could do him some good.
“Kids grow at different times. It’s not always senior year or the year after that,” Libertyville High School coach Brian Zyrkowski said, who coached Peterson in high school. “Drew has always been a winner. In high school, he’d say that all the time, ‘coach, all I want to do is win.’”
In late April 2020, Peterson announced he had found his big time school—Minnesota.
But four days later, on May 1, he reversed course. Peterson would be re-opening his recruitment.
On May 12, 2020, Peterson appeared on the “Jon and Joe Show” podcast, which I co-host with former Daily Herald columnist Joe Aguilar.
Peterson said this about changing his mind:
It’s a really hard as a 20-year old to make a life decision like that. I thought I kind of rushed into it. I wanted to be 100 percent certain as it wouldn’t be fair to me or the program I committed to if I didn’t have that 100 percent certainty. I promised the University of Minnesota I was coming there and I take responsibility for that. I have to make a life decision that suits me
He offered this self-scouting assessment:
I see myself as a 6-8 guard. The last two years I’ve been a primary ball-handler. In the five-out climate we are in (five guards outside the paint) with the height and spacing on the floor and me being able to rebound and out size the posts I’ll be guarding, my versatility and spacing the floor and being able to do a little of everything will have an impact
The day before Peterson came on our show, May 11, he committed to the University of Southern California.
This time, the commitment stuck. Peterson would be a Trojan.
On the May 11 podcast, he explained his decision:
I was just blown away by everything. L.A., the USC name. The system we have, I think we are headed in the right direction. We have a really strong recruiting class coming in and a lot of transfers coming in
By June, Peterson’s rationale for pivoting from Minneapolis to Los Angeles proved to be spot on.
USC had already locked up one of the nation’s best freshman, Evan Mobley, in November of 2019. But two other transfers, Tahj Eaddy and Isaiah White, were granted immediate eligibility and gave the Trojans a deep enough roster to compete for a Pac-12 title and NCAA tournament bid.
All the pieces were falling into place for Peterson. Except one thing.
The NCAA had to grant him immediate eligibility.
When Peterson moved to Los Angeles to join his new team in the summer of 2020, the NCAA had not made a ruling on Peterson’s eligibility. He worked out on campus like an athlete planning on playing an important role for the 2020-21 Trojans.
During the podcast interview in May 2020, Peterson reiterated what he told the Tribune in April before he landed at USC.
He would accept whatever decision the NCAA made about his 2020-21 status.
I’m fine with sitting out or playing right away. The waiver situation is hard as the NCAA goes back and forth on who it grant waivers for. Waiting to see what the next step is. If I’m able to play, I will most likely suit up and if not, I’ll take a year for development
In November, a few days before the Trojans began their season, Peterson finally heard from the NCAA.
All clear. He could play.
From the first game, Peterson’s presence on the floor made the Trojans a much better basketball team.
In a Dec. 1 win over BYU, Peterson filled up the stat sheet—19 points and five rebounds. An in-game GIF incapsulated how Peterson felt about his new home on the west coast.
USC was winning in part, because of Peterson. And he was having an absolute blast.
Post-win celebration videos filled up the program’s @USC_Hoops twitter timeline all winter, with Peterson prominently featured on the court and in the jubilant locker room.
In a video produced in early January by team’s social media team, Peterson talked about hard lessons, discovering a new level of self-motivation in 2020 and to brighter days in 2021.
Those brighter days have arrived for Peterson.
He has started all three Trojan NCAA tournament victories this month. In a second round beat down of Kansas, Peterson led the team in minutes (34) and had eight rebounds. Against Drake in the tournament opener, Peterson scored 14 points in 28 minutes.
After the Oregon win Sunday night, USC is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2001.
The Trojans’ 9 pm (central time) tip offs in the round of 32 and 16 have forced fans in the Midwest to stay up late watching basketball and for some, sacrifice sleep.
An easier thing to do when the person on the screen is Peterson.
“It’s pretty remarkable to watch him play and excel. He’s always been a very good passer and it’s nice to see how his game has improved at this level,” Zyrkowski said. “He’s hit adversity his entire career and he always overcomes it. He’s probably the most pure example of perseverance and hard work and now he’s a key contributor an an (Elite Eight team).
“I’m just so proud and impressed and he shows what you can do when you keep your mindset on getting better and it’s a message for younger guys. Look at what he has done and how hard he has worked. Drew is a role model for all of our guys in our program.”
At exactly 2 pm (CDT) Monday afternoon, Peterson called me from Indianapolis.
He had just come off the practice court. In approximately 30 hours from the time Peterson called, the Trojans would play the mighty undefeated Zags of Gonzaga.
“It will be a helluva test,” Peterson said. “They have two lottery picks (Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert) and (forward) Drew Timme is averaging 18 points per game. They have so much talent from top to bottom and a team you really have to match their scoring.”
In the 15 minutes I had with him (not mandated by the team, just a limit I put on the interview out of respect for his time) I wanted to ask him about more than Gonzaga.
He and his Trojan teammates have been road gypsies for almost the entire month of March, starting with the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas then to Indianapolis.
“We haven’t been in L.A. for three weeks,” Peterson said. “There’s so much travel, it’s almost like an NBA schedule.”
Peterson said life in the NCAA tournament ‘bubble’ is busier then outsiders might think. They get fed a lot. The NCAA plans activities like a recent outing to Top Golf. The endless rotating cycle of practices, Covid testing and team meetings. For the first week of the tournament, they stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel, then moved to the Marriott.
It’s nothing he or his Trojan teammates aren’t used to as they’ve lived in bubbles for pretty much the entire 2020-21 season. Now, so close to the end, the thrill of what’s still possible keeps them sane.
“We’re hunkered down and can’t risk anything this point of the year. We are in the home stretch and are riding this wave of momentum and excitement,” Peterson said.
Another activity keeping Peterson busy—staying in touch with friends and acquaintances back home.
He’s in regular touch with Zyrkowski and former Wildcat teammates. When I talked to Peterson, he sounded positively overwhelmed by all of the attention and check-ins from folks back home.
“I’ve been on the phone a lot. People from Libertyville reaching out. We have this stagnated schedule so when I get a break, I’ll shoot some calls back and talk to guys like you and tell a story in a way and explain being from Libertyville and how crazy this once-in-a-lifetime experience and what it represents,” Peterson said.
The lack of crowds in Indianapolis combined with the Covid-mandated ‘bubble’ environment almost makes the Trojans ride not feel as real, Peterson said. Except when he logs onto his Instagram account and realizes he has added hundreds of new followers since he arrived in Indianapolis.
There may be only be hundreds of fans watching live in the arena, but millions across the country are tuning in via television. And God only knows how Peterson’s newfound fame has prompted how many Google searches of ‘Drew Peterson’ the past few weeks.
“I still feel like a regular kid from Libertyville,” Peterson said. “I try not to get a big head about this stuff.”
Peterson has every intention of staying in Indianapolis for another week—through the April 5 national title game.
When this tournament run is over, he will go back to Los Angeles to finish out the college semester. Then he will return home. He may notice a few more USC Trojans t-shirt and basketball jerseys being worn by the locals.
“I can’t wait to get back to the Libertyville basketball camps and talk to the kids and represent the community that way,” he said.
A year ago, Peterson, like so many others, was in a state of uncertainty. About his present and his future. No more.
One decision does not define a person. But when a decision proves to be the right one—Peterson choosing USC—it can change a life.
Tonight, against Gonzaga, Drew Peterson takes another step forward in his personal life journey while bringing so many others along with him to share in the moment.
“A year ago, I hit the (transfer) portal and it’s all I could dream for. Such a surreal feeling, once-in-a-lifetime type stuff,” Peterson said. “Everyone has different pathways in life. It’s never a straight shot to the moon.”