After longtime head coach Bob Huggins resigned following a DUI arrest in June of 2023, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball team.
The school named assistant coach Josh Eilert interim for the season, and went just 9-23, their worst record since an 8-20 finish in 2001-02, the final season under legendary head coach Gale Catlett.
The program was in desperate need of a fresh start and a culture change, and that need was addressed Sunday when they reportedly reached an agreement with Drake Bulldogs head coach Darian DeVries to come to Morgantown.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel had the news first.
Sources: West Virginia is finalizing a five-year deal to hire Drake’s Darian DeVries as the school’s next men’s basketball coach. DeVries led Drake to the NCAA tournament in three of the past four seasons. pic.twitter.com/0cAQMuFrMR
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 24, 2024
DeVries played college basketball for Northern Iowa before joining the Creighton Bluejays as an assistant coach under Dana Altman and later Greg McDermott, he spent 17 seasons at Creighton before getting the Drake job in 2018. He won at least 20 games in each of his six seasons at Drake, going 150-55 overall and taking the team to three NCAA Tournaments, including this season’s where they lost 66-61 to the Washington State Cougars in the first round.
Notably, DeVries’ son Tucker was Drake’s leading scorer this season at 21.6 points per game. It’s unclear if he’ll be joining his father at West Virginia, but he did originally commit to Drake over Creighton, Oregon, Iowa State, and others.
