Indiana hires Darian DeVries away from West Virginia as new head coach

Darian DeVries grew up in Iowa, an admirer of the Indiana Hoosiers.

Now he’s in charge of the program.

Just two days after his West Virginia team and the Hoosiers were both left out of the NCAA Tournament, Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson announced he has hired the 49-year-old DeVries to replace Mike Woodson. DeVries is scheduled to be introduced at Wednesday morning news conference.

“This is unquestionably one of the top jobs in America,” DeVries said in a statement, explaining why left the Mountaineers after just one season. “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.”

DeVries has spent 24 seasons as a college coach, the last seven as a head coach. He went 19-13 with the Mountaineers just one season after they finished 9-23 and last in the Big 12.

He spent the previous six years in his home state, helping Drake achieve new heights by winning two Missouri Valley Conference regular season league titles and two league tournament titles while posting a 150-55 mark.

Indiana announced Woodson’s departure last month. The Hoosiers missed the NCAA tourney in each of Woodson’s final two seasons, prompting Indiana fans to sour on the one-time Indiana basketball star and Bob Knight protege.

Dolson said he was seeking specific criteria from Woodson’s replacement and DeVries hit — or exceeded — those expectations in virtually every form.

“Once we had a chance to talk to him, we knew we had the right person,” said Dolson, who made similar comments after hiring Curt Cignetti as the Hoosiers football coach in December 2023. “Darian has a plan for building a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a year-in, year-out basis.”

As a head coach, DeVries created a reputation as someone capable of quick fixes. He did it not just last season with the Mountaineers, despite having lost most of the previous season’s top players, but also at Drake where he took over a program that had five 20-win seasons in 112 years.

The Bulldogs went 24-10 and earned a share of the MVC regular-season title in DeVries’ first season, winning the league’s coach of the year award. It was just the start for DeVries, who topped the 20-win mark each season he was in Des Moines, Iowa, and was won of only three Division I programs with 25 or more wins in each of his last four seasons.

Indiana President Pamela Whitten believes DeVries will bring more of the same to Indiana.

“It is my expectation that our university strives for greatness in everything we do from academics to athletics,” she said. “Darian has demonstrated that he embraces that elite standard. In fact, he has a well-established track record of elevating programs to new levels of success. This is a great day for IU men’s basketball and Indiana University.”

DeVries spent his first two decades in the profession at Creighton, where he worked under current Oregon coach Dana Altman and current Bluejays coach Greg McDermott. He spent the last 17 seasons as an assistant coach.

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