When Chris Fouch saw Drexel’s schedule, the first thing that stood out was the opportunity to go home Thanksgiving week. The Dragons weren’t going to be given any time off, but The Bronx product saw an opportunity to get back to the city and play at Madison Square Garden if Drexel could get through its bracket in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
“That was my first goal, to get back to New York, play here in this building,” he said.
Fouch made the most of his opportunity this week, scoring 19 points and grabbing five rebounds in Drexel’s wild three-overtime victory over Alabama, 85-83, in the consolation game Friday night.
Fouch nearly led Drexel to a mammoth upset in the semifinals over No. 4 Arizona on Wednesday, scoring 26 points.
The 6-foot-2 guard was a prep star at since closed Rice High School, playing alongside Charlotte Bobcats point guard Kemba Walker, former Miami star Durand Scott and Iona standout Lamont “Momo” Jones.
His Drexel career has been full of stops and starts, with two lost seasons because of ankle and knee injuries. Now, he’s looking to go out with a bang, to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time, and to make the kind of memories he watched Walker, Jones and Scott create.
Fouch red-shirted as a freshman, after suffering a serious knee injury, and he broke his right ankle three games into last season, ruining a great start.
When his right ankle injury was diagnosed, Fouch wasn’t certain he would return to college for a sixth year, even if the NCAA granted him that extra season, which it eventually did.
Fouch is happy he decided to come back. Drexel has the makings of a March dark horse, a grinder of a team led by its dynamic backcourt of Fouch, Frantz Massenat and Damion Lee. The Dragons were picked to finish second in the CAA by the league’s coaches, behind Towson.
“The kid’s going to be one of the top five [scorers] in the history of the school,” Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. “When you get a guy like that back, you can only feel good about what you’re doing. He puts everyone else on the floor at ease. They know when things get tough, he’s the guy that steps up for us.”
Massenat added 17 points for Drexel (4-2), Tavon Allen had 16 and Abif Kazemba chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Nick Jacobs led Alabama (3-3) with 23 points off the bench and Trevor Releford had 21.