Indiana is making Darian DeVries one-and-done at West Virginia.
The Mountaineers head coach has accepted an offer to become the Hoosiers’ replacement for the fired Mike Woodson, the school announced Tuesday. The hire ends DeVries’ WVU tenure after one season.
It was an eventful season, though. After going 9-23 in 2023-24 in the wake of Bob Huggins’ allegedly forced retirement and firing interim coach Josh Eilert, West Virginia hired DeVries, who led Drake to three NCAA tournaments in four years.
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With a completely new starting lineup — led by transfers Javon Small and Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son — DeVries completely turned around WVU and led it to a 19-13 record. It was considered by many, including Yahoo Sports, to be the most shocking snub of the NCAA tournament, with West Virginia’s governor angry enough to threaten legal action against the NCAA.
We’ll see how fans respond to DeVries leaving sooner than they probably expected.
DeVries will be replacing a coach in Woodson whose hire some questioned at the time (he had never coached in college basketball before) and everyone was questioning by the end. Woodson stepped down at the end of the regular season with an 82-53 career record and two straight missed NCAA tournaments.
There were some ideal potential replacements such as Michigan’s Dusty May, a former IU student manager, and Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens, but both quickly took themselves out of the running, leading the Hoosiers to pick a coach who has at least won at multiple levels and has experience in the Midwest.