DES MOINES, Iowa — While people may joke about Drake being the oldest team in the conference, their experience has undoubtedly been one of their biggest strengths throughout the season.
And experience is definitely something you want to have on your side come tournament time.
"We've had a group that's been to a finals down there. They've been able to go down there," said head coach Darian DeVries. "Unfortunately we've come up short in back to back years, but I do think that experience will come into play in some form and hopefully it's enough to get us some wins."
Injuries have plagued the Bulldogs in the past, but this year, they're at full strength heading into the conference tournament.
For grad students Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins, who have both battled injuries the past few years, the chance to compete for a conference title together one last time means a lot.
"The year I played and the year he played, we made it to the championship and we always talked about, 'What if we had our whole group going into March?' And we have a whole group going into March healthy, so I'm pretty confident in it," Wilkins said.
Their teammates also recognize how special it is and want to make sure their seniors go out on top.
"They've laid a great foundation and to be able to carry that on here and into this tournament and lay it all out there one more time for these seniors, I would love nothing more than these seniors to go out the right way," said Tucker DeVries, sophomore guard and forward.