Epi 54 Drew Tower of Project 44

Drew

Um, so he'll, they'll end up loving it, I think. Like they'll want to go, but like, I'm not watching Indy Carr. Yeah. Year round or anything like that, so, yeah.

Vince

That's funny you mentioned your son. So growing up, my, my dad's been in it since he was a kid, I guess. Um, they institute a family rule. He had to be nine before you go to the race. And as kids were like . What's up with that? Like, we didn't understand it. Then all of a sudden we become, parents, have kids and it's like, ah, I get it. Because if four year old, I have three, three girls. But you know, if a four year old goes and they have a meltdown, you know, an hour or two in, you're like, oh buddy, we got like six more hours to go.

Like this

Drew

and it took us an hour to get in here. Yeah, yeah.

Vince

But

Drew

And they've cleaned it. They've done a nice job of cleaning some things up for families. I think like it's just, it's a different race than probably everyone used to go to as well. So you can get what you're looking for.

Vince

Yeah. I, so literally I've been gone, I've, I have gone every year since I was nine. Um, seen a lot of things. Um, people watching still is pretty good. Yeah. I mean, you're, cuz you're seeing a little bit of literally everything. Yeah. Um, but to your point, I don't think the infield. There's still probably some antics in certain spots, but it's not like what it used to be. Yeah. But it is what it is.

Drew

that's funny. So you're excited, you're ready.

Vince

I am.

Drew

many races have you been to?

Vince

well, so I'm 50 now. Uh, this'll be my f you know what the race is? I'm 50, so 41.

Drew

Wow. wow.

Vince

Yeah. Yeah.

Daniel

Do you get, do they give you like a coin when you hit your

Vince

No, No. Not that I'm aware of. Doug, if you're out there and you're here listening to this, let me, lemme know if there's a prize. Yeah. My dad's at 60 plus. Maybe close to 70 now.

Drew

There's a lot of those stories. Yeah. I mean, especially over on the West side, just those families that keep going back to the track. Yep. Which, just the tradition now.

Vince

Right. Cool. Well, um, let's roll.

Daniel

Yeah, let's do it.

Vince

All right. Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of the In of These Summits Off. Let's start that over. I almost, I've, I've done that twice now. Recently. Yeah. Normally I've been, so we have two different podcasts. Yeah. And I've now. Screwed the two up. Oh, well

Daniel

swed them,

Vince

Yeah. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Summits podcast. Thank you for joining us from wherever your podcast, or if you're watching us on the Heroes Foundation YouTube channel. Thank you for doing so. We greatly appreciate that. Uh, if you are watching it there and you haven't hit the subscribe button or that little bell notification icon, please do so. Doesn't cost you a dime, and we'd greatly appreciate it. Cause then you'll be notified when new episodes like this won't drop.

All right, today we've got a new special guest with us, uh, hailing from Brownsburg, Indiana, or at least that's where he resides now. Mr. Drew Tower. Drew, welcome to the Summits

Drew

Vince, thanks for having me. I'm glad we could finally connect.

Vince

Um, why don't you give our listeners and viewers a little background info on yourself.

Drew

Uh, so currently I serve as the AD at Brownsburg High School. Um, and I've been doing that for about five years. I've been in public education for 10 years, and, uh, basketball was always kind of my background and so played at a new castle. Went to high school there, grew up there, tons of tradition. Um, and a lot of connections that kind of go throughout this whole story.

Vince

Steve

Drew

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, a lot of Hoosiers fans there. So, um, grew up in New Castle, played there, wonderful experience, gotta go play small college basketball. And then ended up coaching, uh, basketball. Went to the high school route at Brownsburg and, and found my. Himself and administration and athletics has just always been something I've been very passionate about and has always been a part of my life.

So it made sense. Yeah, to get into that.

Vince

So you played in college, where'd you play at?

Drew

Played at Taylor, so a smaller n a i school. Uh, but had just a really good tradition. Uh, a lot of people will be familiar with like Taylor basketball camp that they went to the last 50 years, maybe, uh, during the summer sometime. But, uh, Paul Patterson, who just passed last fall, uh, was my college basketball coach. But just someone who has connections and just well known all over the country, even from small Taylor University and, and even a mentor to like Brad Stevens at when he was at Butler. And so, uh, just but great experiences there, even at the small college level.

And I, I joke it's an upland. Which is, you wouldn't know where it is. Yeah. Um, Northern Indiana. Right. Um, just a map dot, but it has an ice cream place called Ivan Hose, which most people somehow know about. It's got a ton of flavors. And I N I L obviously didn't

Vince

right?

Drew

I wouldn't have had an n I L contract with anybody, but I would've had like an ice cream flavor named after me or something at Taylor's. So, yeah.

Vince

what position?

Drew

Uh, I was a wing, so I was like a two, three. Yeah. Yeah. About six three could shoot a little bit. Uh, my offense was my defense, so I, I was just trying to get the ball back as fast as I could, so, yeah. That's

Vince

Nice. Um, what took you, you said what took you to Brownsburg initially?

Drew

So, um, again, I think just through this whole piece, it's all about the relationships that we've been able to build. So I was coaching at Taylor, uh, a couple years after that I played and, uh, I got to know a coach that ended up being the head coach at Brownsburg. Okay. At the time I was recruiting one of his players at the school he was at, and so got to know him really well. Coach Patterson had retired that spring. It was a good opportunity to do the next thing after Taylor and Brownsburg just happened to be that that piece and I got, was able to come on that spring, um, and kind of an academic role and then get into coaching that way. And so it's kind of where it started.

Vince

Yeah. So this is Randy. What's the approximate enrollment at Taylor?

Drew

Uh, that's a great question. I bet it's 4,000

Vince

And what's the approximate enrollment at Brownsburg? We

Drew

nearing that.

Vince

I was just say, I,

Drew

that.

Vince

I wouldn't, I wouldn't have been shocked if you said Browns Brook's actually like 5,000 and Taylor's 4,000.

Drew

Yeah. And it's just, it's such a great community. Like it's got that it's a huge school and it's growing really fast right now. Uh, but it still has that small town that we love, that my family loves. So, um, it's kind of got everything that you want on the west side

Vince

Yeah. I hadn't been, I got, I think it's try West yet. The next step beyond Brownsburg. My daughter, who's in high school now, had a softball game out there, and I hadn't been out there in a while. And same type of thing. It's, I got a buddy who's my age who went there, and of course back then it was further out in the quote unquote country. Um, you know, 25, 30 years ago. Um, but the amount of growth that it's had in the last five to 10 years is, is ridiculous. And

Drew

Yeah. And I think is Brownsburg kind of hits its caring capacity here. Soon you're gonna see more people that, that are in Brownsburg heading out that way. Right. For sure. So, and it's a great area. So yeah, that was

Daniel

downtown Brownsburg, downtown

Drew

yeah. Yeah. The

Daniel

time last year sometime, and it is completely different. It is wild how much that

Drew

and a lot of development there. That's been good for families, I think, as well, so

Vince

for sure. So you're at Brownsburg Coaching Basketball? Um, initially as, as an

Drew

Yeah. Yep, yep. So I was an assistant before I got into administration.

Vince

Okay. Yeah. And, and so how did that transition happen?

Drew

Uh, just being around good people, um, developing relationships. I think kind of in the role that I was in on the academic side, um, I was, we have teaming and so you've got grade level teams and so you kind of follow these kids through when they're freshman through their senior year. So I wasn't in the classroom teaching and so that helped me get more administrative experience and realize that's a route that I probably wanted to pursue. Um, always wanted to be a head coach. I think, uh, but just things happen in your life for a reason. And so that's something that came up that, that happened to be a good opportunity.

And I got to know my principal was great to me. Um, our superintendent, our current athletic director at that time just really poured into me as a young person kind of getting it, the profession. So, um, it's worked out really well. It's been a great place to, to grow our young family, get married, all those things.

Vince

Yeah. Well, I can imagine and, and not no disrespect to all the other ad's out there, but the ad position at a school like Brownsburg that is already pretty large and still growing. Full-time job, not just during the school year, but you're, you're managing probably a lot of facility issues, um, from just up general upkeep like anybody else has, but also expansion and maybe new building. Um, and then all the other things that come along with all the, all the sports and whatnot. And so when it's summertime, the kids are not there. It doesn't mean you're, you've slowed down at all.

Drew

Yeah. Yeah. And I think we've got three seasons, right? We've got fall, winter, and spring, and then we have June. And in June, everybody's in season. And so, uh, which is different from how everybody kind of grew up doing athletics. And so I think it's such a commitment. Um, our, our kids are doing things that are really high level, a lot higher level than I was doing it back at New Castle. Um, and you got high expectations from, from myself, from our head coaches that we're gonna do things a certain way.

And so that takes a, it takes what it takes, right? It takes a certain type of work and commitment to be. Doing your craft all the time, basically. And, and we want to develop 'em as people as well. And so that's the great part about high school right now is that we still get that, that's a byproduct of trying to do things really well, is to develop 'em as people and as leaders and to be the next best athlete that they can be at the next level, or doctor or lawyer or husband or wife.

And so that's, At the root of it, we still get to do all those things. And, and Brownsburg, it's a great place cuz we're flourishing, we're thriving. Um, it's competitive. Our conference, uh, I love my colleagues in our conference at Fishers, hse, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville like,

Vince

All small

Drew

it's competi, just really small area. Yeah. Uh, but it's still competitive, right? And so you've just, you've gotta be on it. And if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. And so that's what,

Vince

and I think your background as a player, not just in high school, but playing the collegiate level, you're a competitive individual and that's probably groomed you well for this position. Cause it's, it get, provides you another out where none of us are playing anymore. And so it provides you that outlet for that competitive spirit too. Not only do a good job, but also knowing that you're competing against these other schools even mentioned, and it's, it can be friendly rivalries, but that comp comp competition or that competitive nature just helps, helps you do your job, essentially.

Drew

Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's, it helped like what your coach has instilled in you, you wanna instill in others. Sure. Right. And so that's one of that piece, like, if you're gonna do this, let's do it. Let's max it out, let's squeeze our potential and, and we intend to compete at the highest level that we can.

Vince

Yeah. So we'll. We went through a couple different head football coaches when I was back in high school back in a long time ago. You probably weren't even, you weren't even born yet. Um, probably not. Thanks for rubbing that in. Uh, but we had one of 'em, he was like a big quote guy. Like every, he was always reciting quotes or practice or Posting up things in the locker room with quotes on 'em. And you know, as, as a 16 to 18 year old, you'd be like, oh God, you know, here's another quote, whatever. But there was one that for whatever reason stood out and something I, I remembered today and something I'll use like with our employees and my, my sales would probably say, okay, great.

You know, I've heard that 8,000 times now, but it's, winners do things losers hate to do. And sometimes I have to remind myself of that sometimes. And I've, and I've now told my kids that, and they probably, I rolled me when I say it too, but like, It's true. I mean, it, it's, it's those who succeed do some of the little things that others may be like, eh, you know, I'm too lazy to do it, or just don't want to do it.

But it's those little things that can add up and make the difference and, um, I dunno, that's just something I remember from my

Drew

Well, and I think. Those coaches that have all those quotes and they've said all those things and then they leave the locker room and they're getting mocked the entire time. Or like we had an off-campus house and we had just these isms or sayings all over the walls. Yeah, right. Um, of things that coach would say. You just know that coach is having an influence and an impact though, because when you grow up and you're a little bit more mature, they kind of sink in. And that's what we hope, like we're putting these nuggets into these kids and then like when they're 25, they get it.

Like it hits them at some point. So, but it's funny in the

Vince

50 and then we finally get it.

Drew

but, but in the meantime it's always fun at the same time because coaches, we can't take ourselves too seriously, so. Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Vince

All right. So coaching basketball then become the ad at Brownsburg. Um, when did Project 44 come into the, into your world?

Drew

Yeah. Um, and I knew about it just because I had a good relationship, um, with some of Andrew Smith's teammates at Butler because we played in high school together. Um, and then just being able to be in the gym, work in some camps, um, at Butler and those types of things. And so, um, honestly, I just some common connections back, uh, to some of the people that were involved with the organization and the mission, uh, this past summer.

And we were able to connect and they were. Wanted to move forward with kind of an executive director position, and we had a few conversations and thought this would be a good fit and, um, something that, um, they're obviously very passionate about from their board perspective. But something that I was as well, and, and there's a few different reasons for that, but I, one of those things was just following that story, not having that direct connection to it.

But, but really I did through some of my friends that played with Andrew at Butler. And so that was really kind of how. Um, between my relationships with, uh, someone who was working for me at the athletic department, who was also at Butler, who knew someone who was on the board, and, and it was kind of just a small world that way. Right. Um, but I, I think it's worked out really well for all of us and, and we're really excited about some of the things that are going on right

Vince

Yeah. Well, I'm fairly familiar with it and I, um, have spoken with Samantha before she actually spoke at our gala, I don't know, five or six years ago maybe. Uh, but why don't you give our, our listeners and views some background history on what Project 44 is and what you guys are doing today.

Drew

Yeah, so, uh, Butler was on two final four runs, uh, 20 10, 20 11. Andrew Smith standout starting center there, um, after he had graduated, signed a contract overseas, uh, like many of them do. And then it was shortly after that he was diagnosed with cancer, uh, with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And, and Andrew had a, a two year battle there and, And through that, um, this is kind of where Project 44 comes from this story. And so 44 was Andrew's number. It's very fitting. Um, And so from there, Andrew's fighting his battle and, and he and his, um, his wife at the time, Samantha.

And uh, just trying to get as many people into the be the match bow and marrow registry as possible and be the match is the biggest registry, uh, to help those with blood cancer. And so, uh, he had a match actually. And, and it wasn't successful, but through that process, uh, they learned so much and, and started to become kind of the face for be the match and advocates for be the Match. Um, and, and kind of his final months and days. And, and so Samantha took that and started this thing and, and really it's her work is why we're here, where we are today. Um, and so Sam, uh, the first. Donor drive was at Andrew's celebration of life. And so you have hundreds of people that are showing up there, teammates, Butler folks just, and people from where Andrew grew up.

Um, And we did the first drive there, which is just a cheek swab. Yep. Right. Like, and we talk about swabbing. We're coming outta, we're post covid and we're talking about sticking stuff up, people's noses and everything. A cheek swab is literally the easiest thing you can do. Um, and, and so it's just swabbing cheeks at Andrew's celebration of life. And, and that was kind of where it took off. And, and so Samantha since then has done just tremendous work. Um, there was a lot of momentum right there and, and kind of where I found out more about this was that Chase, the goal was one of Andrew's teammates, um, was on both of those Final four teams. Chase was one of Drew's good friends.

Chase joins the registry at Andrew's funeral, and it's a few months later that Chase gets a call that he's a match for a little boy in Ohio. And so you couldn't write a script better than that. Um, ends up, his name was Deacon Scott. Uh, deacon was a four year old boy then he's a, you know, nine year old boy now. And it's because Chase's story and Chase chose to do that. And so, uh, you can't write things better than that. That's like a movie script. And so that's Chase and I just had that relationship and it was cool to kind of follow that, that as well.

Vince

Yeah. So did Chase play with you at Newcastle?

Drew

did, yeah. Yeah, he was, uh, a year younger than me. He was a lot better than I was. Uh, he's a reason we wanna state championship too, so, uh,

Vince

got our rain though,

Drew

right? That's right. I was, I was along for the ride,

Vince

Yeah. So you went to high school with Chase, a new castle. You went to high school with Andrew? Yep. At Covenant Christian. Yep. Where's Kevin Bacon? In the middle of that.

Daniel

Yeah, I know, right? Somewhere within six degrees,

Drew

right?

Vince

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Uh, so what would you say your vision for Project 44, what's, what's your guys', uh, kind of short term goals right now?

Drew

Yeah, I think, oh, keeping it really simple is to save lives through bone marrow donation, um, and partnering with Be The Match. We're an official partner with them now. Um, and honestly, I think our story is really unique and I think college basketball is a specific platform for us that that has wide impact because of how popular college basketball is. And so, uh, Through education, through advocacy, through events, uh, our goal is to put as many people into the bone marrow registry through be the match as possible.

Uh, there's a one to 430 ratio of people in the registry for matches, and, and so the more, the better, right? It's roughly 18,000 people then to get a, you know, a match for somebody. So, um, Big arenas have been very attractive to us, uh, working with college basketball teams. And so, uh, I know historically Butler University, even though we don't have an official tie, is home, right? Like, so much of our story are board members that all graduated from Butler that's home for us. Uh, and there's no question in Hinkel. And, and the Butler athletic department and the university as a whole have been great to the organization. And so there was always a staple game. At Hinkel. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and it goes back to where there was an ESPN special about it with Chase and with Deegan and where they brought him out onto the floor and it kind of took off from there.

And then it ended up being some of the best games that were nationally televised. And so you've got buzzer beaters against Villanova and, and those were always on project 44 nights. And so, uh, I do feel bad. It was my first time hosting co-hosting with Butler at Hinkel and Butler lost. And so I did take the blame for that. I didn't give that to Thad. Um, So, but uh, just being at those events, being able to talk to the teams, uh, connect with coaches, we've taken that model and we've gotten to different arenas. And the best thing about college basketball is you've got these coaching trees that exist that were all either attached to that Butler staff, um, or they knew about the story and then, They connect with somebody else and they get us into a different arena, and, and we want to connect with the players.

Those players are gonna wear t-shirts that say Project 44. They're gonna have text codes, uh, with how to join the registry with all the content up on the video board. Uh, but we will have tables on the concourse. Um, and we've been some pretty big places this year and, and fortunate to partner with people like IU with Purdue, with Ohio State. Um, just some different events that have been really, really beneficial for our organization.

Vince

Right. So I've noticed that this, this past basketball season, kudos to you for getting that done. I mean, that to your point, the, the relationship to make that get that going is kind of a no-brainer. Um, and the, you know, the captive audience that you've got there, just it all makes sense. Um, and you have obviously the tie back to basketball and to Andrew and it just, it all kind of blends very well together. Uh, so kudos to you for, uh, for getting that done. I, I think certainly has some legs. And, and to your point, you said that, uh, education advocacy are key and. There's no question that if you continue to go down that, go down that path, that that stage, that basketball stage, uh, is a pretty big one.

Um, and, and, and leverage those relationships like you can. That's, uh, that's awesome. Uh, if, if there's a way we can help, we're happy to do so. So we can, we can talk offline about that. Absolutely. Um, As you probably well know with most of our summits episodes, we talk about cancer stories. Everybody, everybody has one in some, some way, shape or form. Uh, drew, what's your cancer story?

Drew

So I would say there's, there's two here, and the one that I referenced was with my good friend Chase and, and Deacon Scott from Ohio. And I, that was kind of my connection to this, but I guess for me personally, um, and, and again, the Be the Match Bone Marrow registry is specific to blood cancers and blood disorders. And so for me, it goes back to when I was five, uh, the summer before I started kindergarten, and I was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder I t P.

And I was able to have my own bone marrow experience and had wonderful doctors at Riley Children's Hospital and, and I'm old, you know, it was old enough where I can still remember some of those, those visits and operations and things like that. And so, um, it, it all kind of came full circle when I knew about Project 44, when we're having these conversations with the board and then I'm finding out more exactly what our work is and what we're doing. Mm-hmm. And I just sat there at my office and I'm. This has to happen. I mean, this has to happen.

Like I was fortunate to have that experience and had great medical professionals at Riley. Uh, but I was also fortunate that someone donated. I was also fortunate, Deegan Scott was fortunate that although how sad it was for Andrew that Chase was at that funeral, chase decided to just swab his cheek and, and Deegan's still here today. And so, um, it's just, it's. Coincidental, but I think there's a reason for it, and I think these things are all kind of aligning at, at the right time. Mm-hmm. So, yeah.

Vince

I'm, I also suspect your attitude's somewhat similar to mine and or both of ours in that, um, we're making headway, but there's still a lot more to be done. And if we don't do our part, whatever that is, big or small, we'll never get there. Um, My first cancer experience happened to be a blood cancer as well, um, with Hodgkins lymphoma versus non, um, but I vividly remember them taking the bone marrow sample, which was not fun.

Um, fortunately it had not spread to my marrow, so I, I didn't have to worry about a, a bone marrow transplant. But, um, if I did, and I'm sure many others have had to, um, it's great knowing that you guys are doing the work that you're doing to. Improve the chances for someone like myself or many others who are diagnosed with a blood cancer.

Drew

Well, and like, and it's, it's valuable work, right? I mean, I, I think about the world today and we're just divided on everything. I think this is something we can all agree on, and that's what I love about it. I mean, it, it's valuable work. It's, you're doing things for people that can't repay you. Um, and it's not about you, it's about them. It's about leaving kind of your, your fingerprint and your impact and. And, and honestly, I think like what you said, like we have so much work still to do.

I mean, we haven't even scratched the surface yet. And so while basketball games are great, like the real nitty gritty of getting things done, uh, we've been fortunate to have some good connections through legislation, um, at session this past year. And so Senator Greg Taylor has been a huge advocate. For us and for partnering with the Department of Health and to get more information, um, on the Department of Health website.

And, and so I know it's a, it's a budget year at session and Senator Taylor has just been, um, a huge advocate for our organization and our mission, but ultimately, I think we're gonna be able to, the organization is gonna be able to have a key role in that, in partnering with the Department of Health to make sure you go to that website. Right now, there's nothing about joining the registry and how important that is, but there will be. And so I think that's something that we're really excited about as well. That, you know, basketball might be the platform, but the goal is the goal. And so how many different ways can we reach that goal?

Vince

Yeah. Um, number one, that's awesome. And two, as I like to say, which some people sound, make, say it sounds weird, but I really respect cancer. And they're like, what do you mean? I go, well, cancer, like some other disease is like the ultimate non-discriminatory disease. Like it doesn't care about. Age, race, gender, like none of that. It can affect all of us. So to your point, regardless of how divided we are on a variety of issues, these today, I think we can all come together on

Drew

that. Cancer doesn't discriminate, there's no question. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Vince

Well, cool.

Daniel

I know you mentioned, um, at, at the events, the project 44 events, you can get swabbed and things like that. Is there, can go online to Project 44? Can you get it shipped to your home to get on the registry or do you have to do it at an event or go to someplace

Drew

No, no, he, we could do it right here. I mean, you, um, we have swabs at our events, obviously, that, that you'll swab, you'll put 'em in the envelope. They're all going to be the match. Okay. Um, and, and then we're taking account for how many people we're putting into the registry. Uh, but we'll have text codes. Which are really easy. And so you text Andrew to 6, 1, 4, 7, 4 and B the match is gonna mail you and so you just, you put it on your phone? Yeah. Uh, they mail you your swab kit from there and then, uh, you just mail it back in.

And so there's, uh, project 40 four.org at join Project 44 on social media. Um, we're always trying to put out different pieces and swap stories for things that are going on in our world and how, how we can get other people to help.

Daniel

Yeah. Awesome.

Vince

Cool. Well guys, we'll share that text code and the, uh, URL to project 44 in the, uh, description here. So take a look at that stuff. Drew, we appreciate you coming on the Summits podcast.

Drew

the time. I appreciate everything you guys are doing and, and look forward to working together.

Vince

Yep. Likewise. Thanks all you guys for joining us on this episode of the Summits podcast. We appreciate you guys tuning in and don't forget beat Cancer. Cool.