Drexel Dragons - Notable Athletes

Notable Athletes

Basketball

• Drexel basketball teams have included both locally and nationally known players such as Michael Anderson and Malik Rose. Rose and Anderson are the only Drexel alumni to play in the NBA. Several other Drexel alumni have been drafted by NBA teams including: Randy Burkert (9th round of 1982 draft by Philadelphia 76ers), Rich Congo (7th round of 1984 draft by Philadelphia 76ers), and Michael Mitchell (9th round of 1984 draft by Philadelphia 76ers).
• Nicole Hester – 2008 Philadelphia Sports Writers Association "Most Courageous" Award
• Gabriela Marginean – 2009 Philadelphia Sports Writers Association "Outstanding Amateur Athlete"
• In March 2012, Bashir Mason, a four-year starter on the men's basketball team was named the 18th head coach of the Wagner Seahawks basketball team. At the time of the announcement, this made Bashir Mason the youngest head coach in the NCAA at 28 years of age.

Field Hockey

• Head Coach Denise Zelenak was a member and captain of the United States Women's Indoor Field Hockey Team, leading them to a silver medal in the Pan American games. After retiring as a player she was named head coach in 2011.

Lacrosse

• Former Drexel lacrosse head coach Chris Bates played professionally for the Philadelphia Wings tallying 29 goals and 49 assists in 73 games, winning NLL championships in 1994, 1995 and 1998 with the club, and making the All-Pro team in 1996. In 2009, Bates was named head lacrosse coach at Princeton University, replacing legendary coach Bill Tierney.
• Scott Stewart, who played one year of lacrosse at Drexel and graduated in 2001, was the third overall pick in the 2001 NLL draft and had tabulated 117 goals with 127 assists in his career through 2008. Also Jeff Spano, another 2001 graduate, played professionally from 2003 to 2008 with the Philadelphia Wings and the New York Titans, accumulating 28 goals and 78 assists for 106 points in 80 games.

Rowing

• In the sport of rowing, Mark Gerban (who swam for Drexel) was the first person in history to represent Palestine at the 2005 World Championships in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Competing in the Lightweight Men’s Single, he also had the highest placed World Championship finish (16th) of a Palestinian Athlete in any sport.

Soccer

• Jeff Parke was drafted by the Major League Soccer MetroStars in 2004 and is currently a defender on the Seattle Sounders FC.

Swimming & diving

• In 2008, Kate Hynes became Drexel’s first women’s swimming & diving All-American when she placed 13th on the three-meter board at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. On the one-meter board, Hynes finished 20th at the national championships.

In general

• Other notable athletes include Lynn B. Ferguson, who was an All-American in both football and lacrosse during his time at Drexel; as well as Dennis Fink who earned the University’s first-ever Division I All-America honor for lacrosse, was the first Drexel player to lead the nation in scoring, and currently remains among the all-time leaders in several NCAA Men's Division I Lacrosse Records categories. Also, Ray Greene who played on one of the first Drexel lacrosse teams is one of only two Dragons in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.