DeVries Gave 'Cold Shoulders' to Other Potential Suitors

Darian DeVries had West Virginia and West Virginia only in his mind.

Darian DeVries introductory press conference / Christopher Hall

When a coach feels like he's ready to make the jump from a mid-major to a high-major, there's usually a pretty extensive process involving mutliple schools. Several others wanted to speak with former Drake head coach Darian DeVries, but West Virginia was love at first sight and he couldn't get good ole Mountain Mama off his mind.

Morgantown, West Virginia is the place he wanted to be.

"He's done his homework. He knows about our culture here. He knew about our values and he made it clear he didn't just want a job. He wanted this job," WVU athletic director Wren Baker said. "And that was backed up from what I was hearing from other people in college athletics as he was giving cold shoulders to those other schools that were engaging him."

Baker mentioned that one of the most impressive things about DeVries is that his resume only shows two locations of employment over the 20+ years he's been in coaching. In today's world, that's almost unheard of. He was patient and cautious with making that leap to become a head coach. He wanted to make sure it was the right job and the right situation for him. Ironically, that's also the same mindset he had when considering making the jump to the next level.

"I've said this a lot and I know Wren mentioned it. I spent twenty years at Creighton University because that was the place that I loved, it was a place my family loved. I wasn't going to leave Creighton University for any job at the time," DeVries stated. "I wanted the right one when I got my first head coaching job and to me that was Drake University. There was a vision there, there was a plan there. I spent the last six years there and it was incredible.

"I know when I took the job I said it would take something pretty special. I'm from Iowa, I'm from the midwest. It was going to take something pretty special to have me leave there. When I talked to Wren and I talked to people that know this program and this place and the people here, everything about it made sense to me, made sense to my family that this was a place that we could see ourselves at for a very long time. A place that we felt we could enjoy as a family, enjoy as a basketball coach, enjoy being a part of this community."