Zach Spiker, the 57-year-old Drexel men’s basketball coach, was experiencing challenges seven seasons into his coaching career as he watched the game change around him, writes Jeff Neiburg for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Delaware County resident had built a program on culture and togetherness, specializing in finding under-the-radar talent. It had come off of four straight winning seasons.

Now the NIL Name, Image Likeness phenomena and the transfer portal had taken root.

The school’s NIL collective didn’t even launch until after the Dragons beat Villanova at the Big 5 Classic in early December, showing Drexel could still outpace schools that had at least some NIL commitments in the 2023-24 season.

But Spiker couldn’t keep his two beat players, Amari Williams and Justin Moore.

Drexel had a hard time competing in the transfer portal market so it went the junior college route. That’s given them three commitments in the offseason and an incoming freshman class that Spiker is excited about.

“You got to go at it in different angles and different ways,” Spiker said. “Am I comfortable right now? No. Am I confident we’ll figure it out? Very much so.”

Read more about Zach Spiker’s career and his ability to adapt to the new rules of the game in The Philadelphia Inquirer.