Give Darian DeVries Time and West Virginia Will Be a Perennial Big 12 Contender

Things may look shaky now, but the future of Mountaineer basketball isn't.

Feb 11, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries talks to his team during the second half against the Brigham Young Cougars at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Tuesday night's loss to BYU isn't singlehandedly going to prevent West Virginia from securing an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, but it very well could be the game they point back to as one that could have changed things if they do ultimately get left out of the field.

The Mountaineers led for 31 minutes and 42 seconds on the night, mostly hanging around a six-point edge. As head coach Darian DeVries stated in his postgame radio interview with Tony Caridi, "We led by six several times, and it felt like when we had the ball, we just couldn't get it to double digits. You let a team like that hang around; they're going to make shots. They're good."

For whatever reason, WVU just couldn't tilt the game completely in their favor or deliver a knockout punch. And once again, the offense dried up in the final minutes with West Virginia not making a field goal in the final two minutes and thirteen seconds.

Feb 11, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Javon Small (7) dribbles while defended by Brigham Young Cougars forward Mawot Mag (0) during the first half at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The loss puts DeVries' squad in a tough position. They now head to Baylor, who, just like BYU did last night, will enter their game with West Virginia with an identical 15-9 record. They will then return home for a chance at a season sweep of Cincinnati, who has played much better since they last met and also stands at 15-9 as of today.

So two games against bubble teams and then a road trip to Lubbock to face one of the hottest teams in the Big 12, Texas Tech. That's the upcoming three-game stretch that this team has to survive. Losing all three, believe it or not, won't eliminate WVU from the big dance, but it will just make the margin for error razor thin.

While it's disappointing for Mountaineer fans to lose a game like Tuesday night or to blow the game at TCU, or even going back to not taking care of business against Arizona State, we have to keep in mind that this team wasn't expected to do much of anything and that was with the expectation that Tucker DeVries would be healthy and available.

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The fact that we're this deep into the season and there's still an NCAA Tournament conversation for WVU should be all you need to know about the job Darian DeVries has done in his first year on the job. His colleagues Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), and others have recognized what he's accomplished and commended him for it publicly.

Tommy Lloyd

“If I were that guy’s agent, I would have two more years on that contract right now. They’ve got off to an amazing start.”

Kelvin Sampson

“The job Darian has done here…I don’t know if his son would have been their best player but those two guys together would have been a problem. I don’t lose sight of that. But West Virginia’s got a lot of good days ahead of them. They’ve got them a really good ball coach now. You’ll get good players here with this crowd and the tradition of this basketball program. It’s really good."

Jan 25, 2025; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries looks on during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images / Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

After the unfortunate ending to the Bob Huggins era and the nightmare of a season that last year was, all West Virginia wanted to see from whoever their new head coach was going to be was a competitive bunch who showed signs of getting West Virginia basketball back on the right track.

Replacing a Hall of Famer is not easy, and sometimes when a school sees one depart, it takes them several years and perhaps several coaches for them to recover. There's been no sign of that being the case here in Morgantown.

Again, some of the recent losses have been a bit of a gut punch, but it doesn't take away all of the special things this group, while shorthanded, has accomplished. Normally, I wouldn't be playing down a 2-5 stretch, but I think it's warranted here.

You don't just beat Kansas in the Phog by getting lucky. You have to coach your rear off and your players have to not blink in the big moment. Folks, they took down Kansas WITHOUT Tucker DeVries. Yes, it's the same rotation that has struggled of late, but fatigue is a real thing, and it's starting to set in.

Jan 18, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries celebrates with West Virginia Mountaineers forward Amani Hansberry (13) after defeating the Iowa State Cyclones at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The wins over Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa State aren't something you can dismiss. You don't get lucky four times against four quality teams. It proves DeVries can do more with less. Some of these losses that probably shouldn't have happened likely don't happen with a deeper bench or another reliable scorer available.

The Mountaineers are just scratching the surface of their potential under DeVries. The best is yet to come. I've said it a hundred times, and I'll say it a hundred more: If this is what he can do with a team he threw together over a span of a couple of months in the summer, what will he be able to accomplish with a couple of recruiting classes under his belt?

Regardless of how things go down the final stretch, DeVries has shown that he's the right guy for the job. He will get this program back to being a Big 12 contender and a perennial NCAA Tournament team. It's just a matter of time.

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