With March Madness in full swing, this is typically the time of year when big programs hire new coaches. Plenty of coaches for smaller schools essentially earn a promotion by playing well in the NCAA Tournament. That certainly seems to be the case for Darian DeVries, as he's now the new head coach of the West Virginia basketball team.
After taking Drake to three NCAA Tournaments in the last four years, DeVries finds himself heading to West Virginia to coach basketball, according to Chris Vannini of The Athletic. The Mountaineers have a new head coach.
“Source confirms West Virginia is expected to hire Drake MBB head coach Darian DeVries as its next head coach, The Athletic has learned. DeVries has taken Drake to three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. ESPN first reported.”
West Virginia basketball recently let go of long-time coach Bob Huggins. He's been coaching since 1972 and was originally hired as the Mountaineers head coach in 2007. After running into a wall this season, the program decided to replace Huggins with Darian DeVries.
DeVries worked as an assistant at Creighton for 17 years before taking the head coaching job at Drake in 2018. After taking a couple of years to build the program, DeVries led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournaments in a four-year time span. He's also won the MVC Coach of the Year award twice.
West Virginia basketball ended dead last in the Big 12 after finishing with a putrid 9-23 record. This is a program that's made the Tournament numerous times over the years. So it was odd to see the Mountaineers not participate. Clearly, the program was facing some issues and they hope to right the ship with Darian DeVries leading the way.
Considering DeVries turned a struggling Drake program around, West Virginia has to like its hire. It may take some time for DeVries to bring in the type of player he wants. However, with the transfer portal there's a chance he can bring some of his own guys from Drake with him.
Either way, the Mountaineers should be viewed as a threat in due time. It's a bigger program so recruiting should be in DeVries' favor. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he can this West Virginia basketball program around. But with patience, this is a team that has the potential of becoming a championship contender one day.
West Virginia basketball's NCAA Tournament history
The Mountaineers have never won the title and only once made it to the championship game back in 1959. So, although West Virginia has a long history in basketball, they've never taken home the championship. The closest they've come since 1959 was in 2010 when they made Final Four run.
2010 was also the last time they won the Big East Conference championship as well. Outside of that, West Virginia basketball has made 11 Sweet 16 appearances with the latest being in 2018. The Mountaineers last made the NCAA Tournament in 2023, however, they were a first round exit.
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