The 56-year-old will finish at the end of next month and will take up a "national leadership role in a sector I’ve always been passionate about".
That position has not been announced yet and Drew declined to elaborate further.
However, he is able to operate from Dunedin and he is very happy about that.
He joined Basketball Otago in December 2019, and it was a homecoming for the sports administrator.
Drew grew up in Dunedin and played basketball under former Otago Nuggets coach Carl Dickel while at high school. But tennis was his first love and he forged a career as a coach in New Zealand and Australia before shifting to the United Kingdom and working his way into the role of chief executive at Tennis Wales.
When he returned to New Zealand after "20-plus years abroad", he was appointed chief executive of Wellington Hockey.
But home was calling and basketball in Otago has flourished under his leadership.
"Things are in a good place here," he said.
"The business operation is in a good place financially. We’ve got really good staff here and a really good board. And the game across the country is in a really exciting place, actually.
"I’m a little bit disappointed to be walking at a time when there are some big, exciting changes happening."
Basketball has experienced so much growth in the region, the biggest challenge for Drew’s successor will be to find enough courts for everyone.
In April, he told the Otago Daily Times: "Basketball in Dunedin and Otago is flying at the moment.
"It is the biggest participation sport in Otago schools at the moment and the numbers keep going up every year.
"This time last year, we were very close to having to tell about 250 primary school kids that they wouldn’t be able to play basketball because we literally did not have enough courts for them."
Drew lists the growth and the solid financial footing the organisation is on as his proudest achievements while at the helm.
"We are in a really solid position and, as you know, a few years back we weren’t quite in that place.
"But we’ve shifted from a position of surviving to thriving now."
Basketball Otago had a debt of just under $179,000 and briefly ceased trading in late 2014. But the association was able to rally and Drew built on the work of his predecessor, Justin Ludlow.
Drew hopes to stay connected with Basketball Otago when he leaves.
"What that looks like, I’m not sure, but I want to stay in touch and support them in some way."
