LOUISVILLE — Drake is openly known for his admiration of sports and teams.
He’s the official ambassador for his hometown Toronto Raptors. He can be seen hanging around with coach John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. He’s been even seen courtside with Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
It might be time to officially add DePaul to his list.
Three DePaul players met the rapper when he played at the United Center in May last year, and Drake even visited the players after the show.
“He actually left his dressing room and came upstairs to meet us,” DePaul senior Megan Podkowa said. “It was crazy. It was so awesome.”
Drake’s love for the Blue Demons started last season. When DePaul took on Notre Dame on Dec. 12, 2014, the rapper posted a picture on Instagram with the caption “This DePaul vs. Notre Dame game the other day had me stuck.”
It was two days later that he took it a step further — wearing a blue sweatshirt with “Hrynko 12” on the back, a nod to then senior Brittany Hrynko, who wore No. 12. Drake added the caption “Putting up shots anywhere. @Bhrynk”
Podkowa and two of her other teammates hoped to meet Drake when he played at the United Center shortly after the NCAA tournament.
“He was so down to earth,” Podkowa said. “He acted like he wasn’t a celebrity at all. I haven’t talked to him since, but he was so cool. I really respect him and really respect what he did to meet us.
“He actually shouted us out during the concert.”
Podkowa posted the picture to Twitter on March 15, in lures of trying to get the attention of Bulls forward Doug McDermott.
.@dougmcd3 anything you can do I can do better… pic.twitter.com/Qd3yuCcsB8
— Megan Podkowa (@mpodkowa_30) March 15, 2016
“We were trying to get his attention,” Podkowa said. “But he’s not really giving it.”
If McDermott doesn’t want to listen, maybe Drake will.
Louisville’s coach can’t keep up?
DePaul head coach Doug Bruno gets to enjoy seeing a lot of coaches rise through the ranks. It’s a benefit he gets to watch, jokingly referring himself as an old coach.
The rise of Louisville head coach Jeff Walz was no exception. Bruno watched as he rose from an assistant to eventually taking over the Louisville job in 2007.
But he’s known Walz long enough to remember one distinct flaw.
“I really remember it vividly, he couldn’t hang with the best of the Big East coaches at our meetings,” Bruno said, jokingly. “He couldn’t hang! Other than that, he’s a great coach, all right? You can figure out what that means, all right?”
In a conference that contained the likes of Bruno, Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma and Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw, it’s no wonder he couldn’t keep up.