Drury University Athletics

Daejah Bernard had a spectacular career as a superlative playmaker and defender for head coach Molly Miller in Drury’s winningest four-year basketball stretch ever.
 
Bernard played in four straight 30-win Drury seasons and was a defensive standout throughout her time in Springfield. She was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year each of her final three seasons and won all-conference first-team honors twice after collecting third-team league honors her first two Drury campaigns. Bernard won NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America honors in her final two seasons, finishing as Drury’s career assists record-holder with 607. She wound up 14th in career rebounds with 508, a close third to the record-holder in career steals with 402, and also set records in career games played and career games started at 136 each. She set Drury’s single-season assist record with 211 and the season mark in steals with 137, both in her junior campaign. Bernard led Division II in steals as a junior in 2018-19.
 
Drury’s 128-8 record during the four years Bernard played included a 72-2 mark in conference games as Drury won all four GLVC regular-season titles. The Panthers followed the regular-season crowns with GLVC tournament championships each year to advance to NCAA Regional play four times. Drury was a perfect 32-0 and ranked number one nationally in Bernard’s senior season before NCAA  postseason play was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
 
A native of St. Joseph, Mo., Bernard’s uniform number (5) was retired at the conclusion of her Panther career, and she embarked on her own professional coaching career as a member of Miller’s coaching staffs at Grand Canyon and Arizona State.