West Virginia tapped Drake basketball coach Darian DeVries on Sunday to maneuver the Mountaineers previous one of many ugliest years at school historical past.
DeVries signed a five-year contract, athletic director Wren Baker stated. Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. DeVries’ hiring got here three days after Drake bowed out of the NCAA Event with a first-round loss to Washington State.
“Coach DeVries is an outstanding basketball coach and a good higher particular person and possesses all of the qualities we desired within the subsequent chief of our males’s basketball program,” Baker stated. “His groups play exhausting and sensible and are environment friendly on each ends of the ground. He has confirmed to be a robust recruiter and developer of gamers however much more importantly, a frontrunner with integrity who develops character within the younger males he coaches.”
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The 48-year-old DeVries is a two-time Missouri Valley Convention coach of the 12 months. He compiled a 150-55 file in six seasons and took Drake to March Insanity 3 times. Drake received at the very least 25 video games in 4 straight seasons. The Bulldogs tied a faculty file for wins this season, ending 28-7.
Drake’s 30-1 residence file over the previous two seasons tied FAU for the most effective in Division I.
DeVries replaces interim Josh Eilert, who took over after the messy exit of Corridor of Fame coach Bob Huggins final summer time. With a mess of participant defections, accidents and different distractions, the Mountaineers went 9-23 and completed final within the Massive 12. It was a faculty file for losses and the fewest wins because the 2001-02 group went 8-20 in Gale Catlett’s last season.
Drake College head coach Darian DeVries is seen on the sidelines through the second half of a first-round faculty basketball sport towards Washington State within the NCAA Event on March 21, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photograph/Charlie Neibergall)
“I’m honored to steer this historic program which has an impressive custom and passionate fanbase,” DeVries stated within the assertion. “Gamedays within the WVU Coliseum are legendary, and the unimaginable assist for Mountaineer basketball is thought nationwide. I sit up for constructing on the success of this system.”
Baker needed a coach with a observe file of success in D-I. West Virginia, which final reached the Closing 4 in 2010, hasn’t had a lot of that currently with three last-place finishes within the Massive 12 since 2019 and two NCAA Event berths within the final six seasons. West Virginia has by no means received a Massive 12 common season or match title.
Baker additionally needed his new coach to have an appreciation for each the college and the tradition and historical past of a rural state that has no professional sports activities franchises.
“We’ve got heard so many nice issues about West Virginia and its individuals, and we are able to’t wait to get there,” DeVries stated.
DeVries’ son, Tucker, a junior, was Drake’s high scorer this season at 21.6 factors per sport. DeVries’ brother is former Detroit Lions defensive finish Jared DeVries.
Earlier than coming to Drake, DeVries was an assistant at Creighton for 17 years. The Bluejays made 12 NCAA Event appearances in that span.
DeVries performed for 4 seasons as a guard beneath Eldon Miller at Northern Iowa.
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Drake introduced Sunday evening it would begin a right away seek for its subsequent coach.
“The litmus check for any worker that departs a spot of employment is, ‘Did they depart it higher than they discovered it?'” Drake athletic director Brian Hardin stated in an announcement. “It’s simple to say that Darian DeVries has left our males’s basketball program and our athletics division in unimaginable positions due to his six years at Drake.
“Darian led the Drake males’s basketball group to new heights on the courtroom whereas establishing an elite tradition off the courtroom. He was an unimaginable mentor to the lads in our males’s basketball program for the final six years and a beautiful consultant of our division. We’re grateful to Darian for his management and want him the most effective in his subsequent journey.”
