Oregon HC Dana Altman spoke highly of West Virginia HC Darian DeVries on Tuesday. DeVries joined Altman’s staff at Creighton as a graduate manager in the late 1990s before serving as an assistant for 17 years, nine of which were under Altman.
Oregon Athletics provided Altman’s comments on DeVries directly to WV Sports Now.
“Darian DeVries and his family were with us for 12 memorable years at Creighton. Darian has an innovative basketball mind and great enthusiasm for the game. He will work with alumni, fans, and staff to represent West Virginia University in a first-class manner,” Altman said.
After working with Altman, DeVries remained on Creighton’s staff under Greg McDermott until 2018. McDermott also praised DeVries on getting the West Virginia job.
DeVries built a program of consistency during his six seasons at Drake. The Bulldogs won 20-plus games in each of DeVries’ seasons at the helm, with three NCAA Tournament appearances. Drake has one NCAA Tournament win from the play-in game vs. Wichita State in 2021. The Bulldogs returned to the tournament this season, falling to 7-seed Washington State on Thursday.
Drake finished with a 28-7 record this season, going 16-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference and then winning the MVC Tournament. Drake had a top-45 offense in the country, averaging 80 points per game. The Bulldogs shot 37% from three as a team, which is 36th in the country. Drake allowed 70.4 points per contest this past season.
DeVries leaves Drake with a 150-55 (73.2%) record over six years.
DeVries will be formally introduced as West Virginia’s 23rd men’s basketball head coach on Thursday morning.
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