CHICAGO (June 9, 2020) – Loyola University Chicago assistant men's basketball coach Drew Valentine has been selected to participate in the 2020 TopConnect Virtual Seminar, which will take place June 11 and 12. TopConnect identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major athletics directors, which provides tremendous networking opportunities for both parties.
 
TopConnect also develops programming that allows these top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders. Prominent head coaches, panels of athletics directors, major media and sport influencers, the inner circle of college basketball and extremely successful business leaders share their leadership experiences.
 
This year's presenters include nation coach of the year Anthony Grant (Dayton), national mid-major coach of the year Steve Forbes (East Tennessee State - now Wake Forest), Muffet McGraw, (Notre Dame) Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) and three-time Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year Mike Smith (Atlanta Falcons). Additionally, three panels of AD's will discuss what they look for in hiring a coach, expectations of the head coach and building a successful program. Other areas covered will be the search process and the media perspective.
 
Valentine is in his third season as an assistant coach at Loyola and has helped the Ramblers to the second-most wins over a three-year period in program history (73), including a pair of Missouri Valley Conference regular season championships, a NCAA Final Four appearance (2018) and a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berth (2019). 
 
In addition, Valentine has helped develop a pair of MVC Player of the Year selections in Clayton Custer (2018) and Marques Townes (2019), with both student-athletes earning Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America recognition.  The Oakland University graduate also helped mentor a MVC Freshman of the Year (Cameron Krutwig in 2018), MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Ben Richardson in 2018) and MVC Sixth Man of the Year (Marquise Kennedy in 2020).
 
In seven seasons as a college coach, Valentine has helped his teams to six postseason trips, a pair of Final Four berths and three Sweet 16 appearances.
 
Loyola won 21 games in 2019-20 and finished one game behind Northern Iowa in its quest for a third consecutive MVC regular-season crown.