MORGANTOWN — Tucker DeVries’ introduction to the WVU men’s basketball program came with a bang.
“The musket, is that what it is? That thing was loud,” he said Thursday. “Hopefully I can get used to that a little more.”
At the moment, DeVries is getting used to quite a lot, including a move from Des Moines, Iowa, to Morgantown, as his father Darian was introduced as the 23rd head coach of the Mountaineers at a ceremony inside the Coliseum.
Tucker DeVries, who won the player of the year honors from the Missouri Valley Conference over the last two seasons, will join his father as a member of the Mountaineers next season.
“For me, to be able to come here for my senior year and be a part of all of this is exciting,” said DeVries, who will have one season of eligibility remaining. “I’m super excited to be a part of it.”
The 6-foot-7 guard scored 1,867 points in his three seasons at Drake. He averaged 18.6 points as a sophomore and 21.6 points last season to win the conference honors.
His 3-point shooting — DeVries has 250 of those over three seasons — has always been a plus, but his rebounding numbers have also improved in each season, finishing at 6.7 boards per game last season.
“Certainly being at a higher level, there’s going to be more expectations,” DeVries said. “We’re ready to give everything we can to fulfill those expectations and get to where we need to be.”
The young man also knows a little bit about playing through pain.
Sitting in the front row, along with his mother Ashley and younger sister Tatum, DeVries sported a sling wrapped around his right shoulder.
“I had surgery on Tuesday,” he said. “Hopefully the recovery shouldn’t be too long. I had to fix some things that I hurt about halfway through the year.”
He also dealt with a different shoulder injury as a sophomore. DeVries missed all of two games because of them.
“I’ve been fairly banged up,” he said. “I’ve battled through some things, maybe even thought about shutting it down one or two times throughout the year. I was able to do enough to feel like I could be out there to help the team.”
As for his move to WVU, DeVries said it was a total family decision. He got an opportunity to meet some of his teammates at the press conference and is looking forward to getting healthy and getting back on the floor to build relationships with them.
He put his name in the transfer portal after WVU announced it had hired his father on Sunday.
“There’s certainly good days and bad days for both,” DeVries said about playing for his father. “It’s been a lot of fun. I think we both enjoy spending time together. Not everybody gets to experience it, especially at this level. I think, a couple of years from now, we’ll both be able to look back and see how special it really was together.”
There was little doubt, he said, about following his father to Morgantown to finish out his college career.
“I’m very thankful for my time and for the people at Drake,” DeVries said. “I think we were both ready for the next step. I wanted to be able to do it with him. With one more year left, I’m super excited to experience it with him.”
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