Dowagiac Daily News

NILES — Former Brandywine basketball standout Leonard Drake died on Wednesday in Evanston, Ind.

Cause of death has yet to be determined.

Drake, a 1973 graduate of Brandywine High School, was the athletic director at Evanston Central High School, a position he took back in June.

Drake was a first team All-State selection in 1973 who went on to star at Central Michigan University.

At Brandywine, he holds both the all-time single game and season scoring marks as well as the single game rebounding record.

He scored 55 points and snared 22 rebounds on the same night to set both records.

Drake was drafted by the New Jersey Nets, but blew out his knee playing in an All-Star game and was unable to play at the professional level.

He was a four-year letterman for the Chippewas, playing from 1974-77. He would later return to his alma mater to coach Central Michigan from 1993-94 and 1996-97.

Drake scored 1,338 points in his four-year career, which his still eighth best on the all-time scoring list for the Chippewas. Central Michigan won a pair of Mid-American Conference titles during his career — 1974-75 and 1976-77.

He played 106 games for the Chippewas, averaging 12.6 points per contest and 3.1 rebounds. He is probably most famous among Central fans for his two free throws with no time remaining as a freshman to beat Georgetown in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

His best season at Central Michigan came as a junior when he averaged 18.2 points per game and 4.2 rebounds while helping the Chippewas to a 18-10 overall record and a share of the Mid-American Conference championship.

He hit 101-of-115 free throws that season, which ranked him third nationally with a percentage of .878.

For his efforts, he was inducted into the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

He remained a Chippewa as he started his coaching career. He was an assistant coach in 1978-79 before moving to Xavier University in Louisiana from 1979 until 1985.

He became the women’s head coach a Xavier in 1984-85 before leaving to become the associate men’s coach at Ball State from 1985 until 1993. The 1990 Ball State squad advanted to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament.

After completing his second stint as the Chippewas’ head coach, Drake headed to Lamar University where he was the associate men’s basketball coach from 1997 until 2002 when he was named head coach of the women’s team for another five seasons.

During 33-year coaching career, Drake led teams won eight conference championships, seven conference tournament titles, appeared in five NCAA Tournaments, four NIT Tournaments and one WNIT tourney.

He is survived by wife Rhonda, a son Jared and a daughter Enjoli.

Funeral arrangements are pending.