Drew Gladstone enters his fifth season as a member of the NIU men’s basketball staff in 2025-26, having joined head coach Rashon Burno during his first season in DeKalb. Gladstone is involved in all aspects of the Huskies’ program including acting as recruiting coordinator, along with player development, practice planning and game strategy.
In 2023-24, Gladstone helped NIU to its best start since 2015-16 as the Huskies opened 5-1 with victories over Sun Belt regular season champion Appalachian State and NIU’s first win over DePaul since 2005. The Huskies recorded the fourth-most three-points field goals in school history (227) while playing the toughest schedule in the Mid-American Conference.
David Coit became just the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points in just two seasons (joining Jim Bradley, Kenny Battle and Xavier Silas) as he was named to the All-MAC Third Team and the NABC All-District Second Team. Will Lovings-Watts was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team while NIU had two Academic All-MAC honorees, Oluwasegun Durosinmi and Harvin Ibarguen, marking the first time the program has had multiple Academic All-MAC recipients since the 1999-2000 season.
During the 2022-23 season, Gladstone helped the Huskies improve to 13 victories and an appearance in the MAC Tournament. NIU recorded its longest road winning streak since the 2002-03 season and also claimed a victory over MAC champion Kent State, snapping the nation’s third-longest win streak. As NIU’s offensive coordinator, Gladstone worked hand-in-hand with Burno to design and execute an offense that finished league play second in the MAC in field goal percentage, third in three-point percentage and third in assists.
NIU had a pair of All-MAC honorees for the first time since 2003-04 as David Coit was named to the All-MAC Third Team and Kaleb Thornton claimed All-MAC Honorable Mention recognition. Coit was also named to the NABC All-District Second Team.
In his first season with the Huskies, Gladstone helped mentor Keshawn Williams to all-conference honors while helping the Huskies to their first victory over a “high-major” opponent since 2005, when NIU won at Washington in the season opener. The Huskies won six true road games during the 2021-22 season, including four in conference play, the most for NIU since the 2005-06 campaign.
Before joining the Huskies, Gladstone spent the previous four seasons with the Indiana men’s basketball program, the last two as a Team and Recruitment Analyst. In that role, Gladstone assisted with the organization of recruiting, opponent scouting and other day-to-day operations of the Hoosier program, helping IU to a 20-win season in 2019-20.
Prior to his time at Indiana, Gladstone spent three seasons (2014-17) as head coach at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, Conn., leading his team to a 64-12 overall record along with two Fairchester League Championships, two New England Championships and he was twice named New England Class C Coach of the Year.
In 2011-2012, Gladstone was a Special Assistant under Steve Masiello at Manhattan College, where he was a part of a staff that brought a previously 6-win program to 21 wins in year one.
Gladstone also co-founded and was the Director of High Rise Basketball, a player development program based in Connecticut. He helped develop concepts and content for camps, clinics, teams, training programs, and other programs that High Rise offered year-round. During his time at High Rise, Gladstone worked with high school, college, and professional players.
A 2009 graduate of DePaul, Gladstone played for Jerry Wainwright.
