College Basketball

West Virginia hiring Drake’s Darian DeVries as Bob Huggins’ full-time replacement

By
Christian Arnold
Published March 24, 2024, 9:03 p.m. ET

West Virginia ha🐓s set its sights on Drake coach Darian DeVries to take over as its next men’s basketball coach, ESPN  

DeVries has led Drake to three NCAA Tournament appearances across the past four years and guided the progᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚram to 25 or more wins in each of the past four seasons, which made him one of the more coveted mid-major coaches. 

His contract w🎃ith West Virginia will reportedly last five years.

The soon-to-be former Drake coach takes over a West Virginia program that made headlines due to the DUI arrest of former head coach Bob Huggins in June.

Darian DeVries led Drake to another NCAA Tournament berth this season before taking the West Virginia job.
Darian DeVries led Drake to another NCAA Tournament berth this season before taking the West Virginia job. Getty Images

Assistan💖t coach Josh Eilert ran things this season before the school start🦩ed to look for a full-time replacement for the men’s basketball team. 

The program is coming off a rough year where it went 9-23 during the 2023-24 sea💟son and 4-14 in conference play, finishing at the bottom of the Big 12. 

DeVries brings plenty oŕźşf coaching experience with him from Drake and was an assistant coach at Creighton for 17 seasons. 

In his first season at Dra🐼ke in 2018-19, DeVries led his squad to a Missouri Valley regular-season title. 

Bob Huggins, West Virginia's former men's basketball coach, was arrested for DUI in June 2023.
Bob Huggins, West Virginia’s former men’s basketball coach, was arrested for DUI in June 2023. AP

They won a game in the First Four in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and𒈔 fell in the first round of the tournament in 2023 ☂to Miami. 

This year, Drake was knocked out🤡✨ by Washington State. 

One big question now is whether DeVries’ son, Tucker ꦅDeVries, will follow hi🌠s dad to West Virginia. 

Tucker will enter next season as one of the country’s top players, and he has collected 1,867 points across his career — while averaging 21.6 points per game this year for Drake.