West Virginia names Darian DeVries basketball coach after tenure with Drake Bulldogs

West Virginia tapped Drake basketball coach Darian DeVries on Sunday to maneuver the Mountaineers previous one of many ugliest years in class historical past.

DeVries signed a five-year contract, athletic director Wren Baker mentioned. 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 exceptional basketball coach and an excellent higher particular person and possesses all of the qualities we desired within the subsequent chief of our males’s basketball program,” Baker mentioned. “His groups play exhausting and sensible and are environment friendly on each ends of the ground. He has confirmed to be a powerful 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 yr. He compiled a 150-55 document in six seasons and took Drake to March Insanity 3 times. Drake gained at the very least 25 video games in 4 straight seasons. The Bulldogs tied a college document for wins this season, ending 28-7.

Drake’s 30-1 house document over the previous two seasons tied FAU for one of the best 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 large number of participant defections, accidents and different distractions, the Mountaineers went 9-23 and completed final within the Large 12. It was a college document for losses and the fewest wins for the reason that 2001-02 group went 8-20 in Gale Catlett’s ultimate season.

“I’m honored to guide this historic program which has an excellent custom and passionate fanbase,” DeVries mentioned 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 monitor document of success in D-I. West Virginia, which final reached the Closing 4 in 2010, hasn’t had a lot of that these days with three last-place finishes within the Large 12 since 2019 and two NCAA Event berths within the final six seasons. West Virginia has by no means gained a Large 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 folks, and we will’t wait to get there,” DeVries mentioned.

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’ll begin an instantaneous seek for its subsequent coach.

“The litmus take a look at for any worker that departs a spot of employment is, ‘Did they depart it higher than they discovered it?'” Drake athletic director Brian Hardin mentioned in an announcement. “It’s straightforward to say that Darian DeVries has left our males’s basketball program and our athletics division in unimaginable positions because of 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 boys in our males’s basketball program for the final six years and an exquisite consultant of our division. We’re grateful to Darian for his management and need him one of the best in his subsequent journey.”