MORGANTOWN- For the past nine months, WVU athletic director Wren Baker has been looking for a head basketball coach to lead the Mountaineers after giving Josh Eilert the interim tag last summer after the well-known debacle around the firing of Bob Huggins.
On Sunday evening, the school made it official.
Darian DeVries, 48, a highly successful coach for the Drake Bulldogs, agreed to a 5-year contract and accept the head coaching job in Morgantown.
As far as coaches go, this is considered a home run hire as DeVries has been to the NCAA Tournament three of the last four seasons, including this year when they lost to Washington State in the first round this past Saturday night. He is a finalist for National Coach of the Year for the second time in six seasons and if the Drake message board forums are any indication, the Bulldog fans are extremely sad to see him go.
Drake won at least 20 games each season DeVries was there. They were 28-7 overall this year.
Somewhat of a bonus with DeVries is his son Tucker has already announced that he will be following his dad to Morgantown and play for the Mountaineers. Tucker is the 2-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and this season averaged 21.6 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and shot 36 percent from 3-point range. He is considered a legit NBA prospect and is the first piece of a large transfer portal puzzle that coach DeVries will begin piecing together very soon.
West Virginia is coming off a 9.23 season where ‘if it could have gone wrong, it did.’
DeVries hopes to change that tune and bring Mountaineer basketball back to its glory that the school has endured throughout its long history. The expectation is that the Mountaineers will challenge for a NCAA tourney spot as soon as next season.
Until then, everyone can watch and see how the roster comes together over the next several weeks.
