by: Justin Walker
Rumors are swirling around WVU basketball and the future of Darian DeVries as head coach. With the University of Iowa moving on from head coach Fran McAffery, reports have surfaced that DeVries is one of the top targets to lead the Iowa program. The fact DeVries and his family are from Iowa has WVU fans nervous. The fear is that the Mountaineer coach will want to return to the Hawkeye State. He spent the previous six years as the head coach of Drake, which is located in Des Moines.
Monday, WVU Athletic Director, Wren Baker, appeared on Sportsline and addressed the rumors about DeVries. He warned fans not to believe everything they read online. “Less than 10% of what you read about the speculation out there is true,” said Baker. “Social media, the internet message boards and all that certainly create a lot of awareness and attention. There’s some positives of that, but there’s also a lot of negatives. There’s not really a lot of fact checking that goes on with a lot of that. That’s the first thing I’d caution people about.”
He also spoke positively about the the school’s commitment to athletics. “We’ve had multiple conversations about what we need to do to make this program better and he knows we’re committed to do it,” Baker said when referring to DeVries. “We’re committed to him. We’re committed to reward success and committed to keep building this and I think that ultimately, he feels very good about what he has here, and I think the future is very bright for us.”
Baker went on to talk about how it’s normal for a coach who is successful to have other schools reach out. He said, “it’s common, when you have success, for folks to wanna sniff around and inquire about your coaches. But, I do feel good about our situation here, and coach knows that we are committed to him and committed to continue to build the program.”
How far this interview will go in quieting the rumors and social media chatter is yet to be determined. With the Mountaineers getting snubbed by the NCAA Tournament committee, the fanbase is already on edge. Being able to keep Coach DeVries would go a long way in making Mountaineer Nation feel better about the future.
If DeVries stays at West Virginia, the future does indeed look bright. Even with the recent news that Jonathan Powell was planning to enter the transfer portal, the Mountaineers expect to bring back a lot of production from this year’s team. Amani Hansberry, Sencire Harris, Tucker DeVries and KJ Tenner are all expected to return for the 2025-26 season. In addition, WVU has signed three four-star recruits in the 2025 class: Braydon Hawthorne (Huntington Prep), Kelvin Odih (SoCal Academy) and Trent MacLean (SoCal Academy).
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
2 Responses
i guess this was thought oif way before the ncaa screwup his son wasnt going to play his last year at wvu so he could go with his dad to undiana
That’s definitely a possibility.