Anthrop talks with Pacers guard Joe Young at Orlando Summer League.
Lafayette, Indiana native Dru Anthrop is returning to the NBA after one year away. Anthrop has been hired by the Orlando Magic as a Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Anthrop told VigilantSports.com.
The head coach, of course, is Frank Vogel — the former Indiana Pacers head coach for five and a half seasons (2011-2016). After graduating from Purdue University in 2013, playing basketball all four years, Anthrop joined the Pacers as an intern in the video department.
That led to more responsibilities and ultimately a full-time position as a video assistant. He assisted in breaking down film for the coaching staff, logged games from college, Development League, and overseas for scouting purposes, and was on the Summer League coaching staff in 2015. That summer, his last with the Pacers, he was even on the bench with the team in Orlando.
This past season, Anthrop was a graduate assistant for Chris Mullin’s staff at St. John’s University in New York. While there, he worked towards obtaining his Master’s degree in sports management.
With the mindset to become a coach one day, Anthrop will now assist Vogel, who became a coach through the video room — with a little scouting mixed in.
Former Pacers employees currently working for the Magic:
- C.J. Watson – player
- D.J. Augustin – player
- Damjan Rudež – player
- Chad Forcier – assistant coach
- Stephen Mervis – Special Assistant to the General Manager
- Nathan Burger – Group Sales Manager
- Dru Anthrop – Special Assistant to the Head Coach
Frank Vogel and Paul George embraced before last night’s preseason game in Orlando. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) pic.twitter.com/C8ehYwO0yC
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) October 15, 2016