The Indiana Hoosiers saw their tumultuous season end last week with a second round loss to Oregon in the Big Ten tournament. They finished the season 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the conference, good for 9th place. Losing 7 of 8 in a monthlong stretch during January and February essentially tanked the season.
Amidst the chaos, and causing more, coach Mike Woodson announced midseason that he would be leaving the program after four years in Bloomington. Naturally, Indiana’s athletic department spent the interval hunting a replacement. ESPN announced Monday evening that they had found one, West Virginia’s Darian DeVries.
Darian DeVries Brings Strong Resume to Indiana Hoosiers
In his first and only season coaching the Mountaineers, DeVries led his squad to what many believe should have been a berth in the NCAA tournament. Instead, North Carolina won the final at-large bid.
Adding 10 wins to its previous total, West Virginia finished 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the Big 12, identical to Indiana’s results, and made an AP Poll appearance at #21. Had they avoided losing to Colorado in their first game in the conference tournament, it is highly likely that the Mountaineers, not the Tar Heels, would be joining March Madness.
Before coming to WVU, DeVries spent six seasons at Drake. Under DeVries, the Bulldogs won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament twice. In his inaugural season, Drake claimed the regular season title.
DeVries finished his tenure winning at least 20 games every season, a 79-33 conference record, and three NCAA tournament appearances. Now he will look to right the ship at Indiana.
Glad To Be There, Glad To Have Him
Upon being hired by the Hoosiers, DeVries released a statement. Per ESPN:
“This is unquestionably one of the top jobs in America. As someone who grew up in the Midwest loving the game of basketball, I’ve always admired the IU Basketball program for its championship-level success, tradition, and fan support. There’s a passion to succeed at the very highest levels both within the Big Ten and in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a desire that as a coach I share.”
In and out of the tournament since Bobby Knight departed, the program will look to recapture some consistency under DeVries:
“We went into this coaching search with some very specific things we were looking for in our next head coach, and Darian emerged as someone who, on paper, met and often exceeded our criteria,” athletic director Scott Dolson added in the school’s statement. “Once we had a chance to talk to him, we knew we had the right person. Darian has a plan for building a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a year-in, year-out basis. He has extensive D-1 coaching experience that includes 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach or as an assistant.”
The Hoosiers are watching March Madness from home this year, but they will look to parlay DeVries’ first-year magic into a tournament berth next season.
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