DeVries now focused on staff, building program at West Virginia
With Darian DeVries named the head basketball coach at West Virginia, the focus now turns to staffing.
And DeVries should have some ammunition to fill those roles with an assistant pool that will be $1.4 million according to Athletic Director Wren Baker.
That funding will be allocated to the five assistants while there will be additional money available for off-the-court positions such as recruiting, player personnel, director of operations and strength coach, among other positions in the program.
“That $1.4 million is a big increase from where we were but I feel like it’s important to make sure the coach can build a staff that’s competitive at the top of the league,” Baker said.
West Virginia officials compared that total to what the rest of the Big 12 has and believed that would make them competitive with the top half or maybe even the top four of the league.
It will be at the discretion of DeVries how that funding will be divided up, but it’s something that Baker shared upfront with him about the job opening from the start.
As for DeVries, the plan is to put together his staff in the coming days and weeks as quickly as possible to allow them to get on the road during a very important recruiting period.
DeVries wants to ensure that from a staff perspective, they can cover all regions on the country in terms of recruiting in order to identify and secure the types of players that they want in their program. That boils down to a combination of talent and intangibles.
“Winners aren’t necessarily about scoring baskets, they have a discipline, a toughness, an unselfishness that stands tall in all situations. We will teach them to apply those in all situations of their life,” he said.
The plan for DeVries is to meet with the current group of players in order to get an idea of both their plans and the plans of the coaching staff. The Mountaineers also will continue to build the roster and fill needs that are there both with a mix of the transfer portal and high school recruiting.
DeVries will fully embrace the new era of college basketball in regard to the transfer portal and NIL with the partnership with the Country Roads Trust.
“We will remain one of the premier programs in the country,” he said.
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