MORGANTOWN — Darian DeVries took his first steps into being a power conference men’s basketball coach Thursday, as the former Drake coach was officially introduced as West Virginia’s 23rd coach inside the WVU Coliseum.
“I think the biggest challenge as you change leagues is just learning the league,” said DeVries, who signed a five-year deal worth $15 million, with the possibility for a sixth season worth an additional $3.3 million. “I grew up in the Midwest with the Big 12 and the old Big 8, so certainly I have a great understanding of the league.
“I know many coaches in the league. Now it’s about getting your staff put together and continuing to build on your roster. At the end of the day, basketball is still basketball. The things that matter for winning, matter at every level.”
As far as WVU’s roster, DeVries made it official that his son Tucker, who has won player of the year the last two seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference, will join the Mountaineers for his final season.
“It’s always nice when you get your first recruit,” DeVries said. “I had to work hard this morning to get that one done.”
Tucker DeVries was in the crowd with his mother and sister, seated one row ahead of current WVU players Josiah Harris, Jeremiah Bembry and walk-on Ali Ragab, who the DeVries briefly talked with after the press conference.
“We arrived late (Wednesday) night, so to see a couple of the guys here was pretty cool,” said Tucker, who has his right arm in a sling after undergoing shoulder surgery Tuesday. “I got to introduce myself and hopefully I can get to know them a little better and build some relationships there.”
Darian DeVries comes to Morgantown with no connections to the city. His only history with WVU came in the 2005 NCAA tournament.
DeVries was an assistant at Creighton in 2005 when the Mountaineers beat the Bluejays in the final seconds off a transition dunk from Tyrone Sally with 2.4 seconds remaining to win that first-round match-up, 63-61.
“The success here speaks for itself; unfortunately, some of that success came at our expense about 19 years ago,” DeVries said. “I was talking with (Mike) Gansey, and they had beaten us. There were a couple of controversial calls there.
“I was joking with him that there is a 20-year statute of limitations, and we’re not quite there yet. I have one more year to hold a grudge about that loss.”
As to what drew WVU athletic director Wren Baker to Devries, Baker said much of it was DeVries’ short coaching bio.
It reads just two stops: 17 years at Creighton under both Dana Altman and Greg McDermott, before spending the last six years as Drake’s head coach.
“We wanted someone who would entrench themselves in West Virginia,” Baker said. “We felt it was important for our next coach and their family to put down roots and embrace this state and community.
“The most amazing stat on Darian is in 23 years, he’s only been at two places. He’s amazingly loyal and showed maturity to not chase the next job.”
Technically, DeVries will take over for interim head coach Josh Eilert, but the bigger picture is he will have to rebuild a WVU program that was led by Bob Huggins for 16 years.
In those 16 seasons, WVU went to 11 NCAA tournaments and played in the 2010 Final Four.
“I’ve followed their success as a fan, so you know all about that,” DeVries said. “I didn’t know all the ins and outs until I really started digging into it. This is an unbelievable situation. There are so many things here that are in place.”
It is also a program that lost 23 games last season and hasn’t finished higher than eighth place in the Big 12 over the last three seasons.
All of it was part of DeVries’ research into the program. As part of that research, DeVries said he contacted Huggins, as well as former coaches like John Beilein and Gale Catlett.
“I got a chance to reach out to all three of them,” DeVries said. “I was excited to get their input about the program and the success they’ve had here.”
A native of Iowa, DeVries’ roots are in the Midwest, where the bulk of the Big 12 is located.
That league will look much different in his first season, as Texas and Oklahoma depart and Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Arizona State are introduced as new members.
He will take over a roster that currently has eight scholarship players — including his son — meaning there are five open scholarships remaining.
That could change in the days to come, as players make their decisions on whether to remain at WVU or enter the transfer portal.
“I’ll get an opportunity to meet with individuals on the roster right now and get a feel for their plans and our plans,” he said. “We’ll communicate that with each individual on the roster. I’m excited to do that. We’ll continue to fill some of the needs with the seniors who are leaving the program and anyone else.”
As far what DeVries wants to bring to WVU, he said the physical style of play in the Big 12 is also found in the Missouri Valley Conference, just at a bigger level.
He wants to bring a sense of toughness and defense to the program, but then also be able to capitalize off good defense.
“There’s no question in order to be successful in the Big 12, you have to be able to defend,” DeVries said. “Your team has to have some toughness. We’ll recruit to that, we will coach to that.
“Offensively, it starts with getting stops. Once we get the ball, if you reach out and talk to the people in our league, the thing they fear the most is our transition game. Our goal is to score in the first 12 seconds of every possession, because if you can score against a broken defense, it gives you a much better chance.”
TWEET @DomPostSports
