Loyola Basketball Head Coach Drew Valentine shows off his impressive shoe collection

Dionne Miller Image
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Coach Drew's Shoes: Loyola coach shows off impressive sneaker collection
It may be Coach Drew Valentine's first season with the Loyola Ramblers, but clearly, the shoe fits.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- When 29-year-old Drew Valentine was tapped as Loyola's next head basketball coach, it opened a lot of eyes. He had big shoes to fill, and he's already done so in more ways than one.

Coach Drew's Shoes is a Twitter parody account documenting all things Loyola basketball. But he showed off his actual shoe collection: over 100 pairs of Nikes and Air Jordans that mean something to him.

"These are my favorite shoe of all time," he said, giving ABC7's Dionne Miller a tour of his collection. "These just got re-released, I haven't worn them yet."

Valentine, now 30, is the youngest head coach leading the youngest staff in Division I basketball. Looking that way is part of the job.

"That's what we gotta be," Valentine explained. "We have to present ourselves in a way that shows who we are, and shows our youth, our energy. But we're young, we're fit, we can still get out there on the court so why not dress the part?"

And the Ramblers are winning, with 10 straight victories. They're 5-0 in the valley and back in the top 25 for the first time in two years, maintaining a culture they've all bought into.

"It's just doing everything at a championship standard, and it's just, in life," Valentine said. "Whether you get sneakers, whether you're in the classroom, the weight room... it's just everything has to be all about a high-level championship standard."

It may be Valentine's first season, but clearly, the shoe fits.