Darian DeVries Turns To Familiar Face As Mike Bargen Will Join Indiana Coaching Staff

Mike Bargen will be the fourth member of Indiana basketball coaching staff. He and Darian DeVries have worked together before.

Bradley men's basketball associate head coach Mike Bargen offers some advice during practice Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 at Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria. | MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Darian DeVries was around the Missouri Valley Conference from 1998-2013 and then again from 2018-24 as head coach at Drake.

For his latest addition to his staff, he turned to a fellow MVC veteran coach, one who was a part of DeVries’ formative years as an assistant coach.

The Indianapolis Star reported that Mike Bargen, who has been associate head coach on Brian Wardle’s staff at Bradley, will join DeVries’ Indiana staff.

DeVries and Bargen have worked together before. When DeVries was an assistant coach at Creighton in the 2000s, Bargen was a graduate assistant.

Bargen was at Creighton from 2001-04. Creighton advanced to two NCAA Tournaments while both DeVries and Bargen were together on Dana Altman’s staff.

During Bargen’s time on Wardle’s staff, Bradley has been a perennial contender in the Valley. Bradley has had five seasons where it won double-digit conference wins with Bargen on Bradley’s staff.

Bradley won the MVC regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and would have been in the field as MVC Tournament champions in 2020, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Bradley’s biography, “Bargen has worked directly with and helped recruit six All-MVC selections and seven All-Freshman honorees during his time on The Hilltop.”

Before his time at Bradley, Bargen was head coach at Butler Community College in Kansas. He was 164-93 during his time in the junior college ranks.

As a player, Bargen was a teammate of Wardle’s at Marquette as Bargen suited up for the Golden Eagles from 1995-99.

Bargen joins Nick Norton, Drew Adams and Kenny Johnson on DeVries’ staff. Earlier on Friday, Johnson was reported to be joining the Indiana staff.

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