West Virginia tapped Drake males’s basketball coach Darian DeVries on Sunday to relocation the Mountaineers past one of the ugliest years in program history, formally knocking the door on any prospective return for scandal-ridden longtime coach Bob Huggins.
DeVries signed a five-year agreement, athletic director Wren Baker stated. Terms of the offer weren’t divulged. DeVries’ workingwith came 3 days after Drake bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with a first-round loss to Washington State.
“Coach DeVries is a incredible basketball coach and an even muchbetter individual and has all the qualities we wanted in the next leader of our males’s basketball program,” Baker stated. “His groups play difficult and clever and are effective on both ends of the flooring. He hasactually tested to be a strong employer and designer of gamers however even more significantly, a leader with stability who establishes character in the young males he coaches.”
The 48-year-old DeVries is a two-time Missouri Valley Conference coach of the year. He assembled a 150-55 record in 6 seasons and took Drake to March Madness 3 times. Drake won at least 25 videogames in 4 straight seasons. The Bulldogs connected a school record for wins this season, completing 28-7.
Drake’s 30-1 home record over the past 2 seasons connected FAU for the finest in Division I.
DeVries changes interim Josh Eilert, who took over after the untidy exit of the Hall of Famer Huggins last summertime. With a widevariety of gamer defections, injuries and other diversions, the Mountaineers went 9-23 and completed last in the Big12 It was a school record for losses and the least wins consideringthat the 2001-02 group went 8-20 in Gale Catlett’s last season.
“I’m honored to lead this historical program which has an impressive custom and enthusiastic fanbase,” DeVries stated in the declaration. “Gamedays in the WVU Coliseum are famous, and the amazing assistance for Mountaineer basketball is understood acrossthecountry. I appearance forward to structure on the success of the program.”
Baker desired a coach with a track record of success in D-I. West Virginia, which last reached the Final Four in 2010, hasn’t had much of that recently with 3 last-place surfaces in the Big 12 consideringthat 2019 and 2 NCAA Tournament berths in the last 6 seasons. West Virginia hasactually neverever won a Big 12 routine season or competition title.
Baker likewise desired his brand-new coach to have an gratitude for both the university and the culture and history of a rural state that has no professional sports franchises.
“We haveactually heard so numerous fantastic things about West Virginia and its individuals, and we can’t wait to get there,” DeVries stated.
DeVries’ child, Tucker, a junior, was Drake’s leading scorer this season at 21.6 points per videogame. DeVries’ bro is previous Detroit Lions protective end Jared DeVries. Tucker is anticipated to signupwith his dad at West Virginia bymeansof the transfer portal, per a report from The Field of 68.
Before coming to Drake, DeVries was an assistant at Creighton for 17 years. The Bluejays made 12 NCAA Tournament looks and signedupwith the Big East in that period. DeVries’ previous employer, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, praised his previous assistant after the news broke of his employing at West Virgina. McDermott and Creighton are headed back to the Sweet 16 after beating Oregon — and another of DeVries’ previous employers, ex-Creighton coach Dana Altman — in a double-overtime thriller in the round of 32 on Saturday.
DeVries played for 4 seasons as a guard under Eldon Miller at Northern Iowa.
Drake revealed Sunday night it will begin an instant search for its next coach.
“The litmus test for any staffmember that departs a location of work is, ‘Did they leave it muchbetter than they discovered it?'” Drake athletic director Brian Hardin stated in a declaration. “It is simple to state that Darian DeVries has left our males’s basketball program and our sports department in unbelievable positions thanks to his 6 years at Drake.
“Darian led the Drake guys’s basketball group to brand-new heights on the court while developing an elite culture off the court. He was an amazing coach to the guys in our guys’s basketball program for the last 6 years and a fantastic agent of our department. We are grateful to Darian for his management and dream him the finest in his next journey.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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