West Virginia men’s basketball is just about two months into the Darian DeVries tenure and during his first 50-plus days, he has had to deal with a lot of roster turnover.
Only one player from last year’s roster (Ofri Naveh) is still with WVU, as seven players transferred out of the program after DeVries’ arrival.
Because of this, DeVries has been working the portal hard, but it wasn’t the fastest start for DeVries out of the gate as he discussed on The Field of 68 podcast.
“I think there was a lot that went into it. It does take a while to kind of get your feet underneath you a little bit. Once we did, I feel great about where we’re at now, but it took us a little bit to get there,” DeVries said to The Field of 68 on Tuesday night. “Three-four-five years ago, if you only had one guy on the roster, you’re in a complete rebuild. But that’s not how it is anymore. You can get a whole new roster very quickly and have a roster that’s ready to compete now.”
It started with DeVries at his introductory press conference announcing the addition of his son, Tucker, and as of this week, WVU had officially added Oklahoma State transfer guard Javon Small.
Related: Small a critical piece to the West Virginia roster
Last season Small averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, while Tucker DeVries averaged 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, while being named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
Pairing his son with Small is something DeVries says West Virginia needed. Having two guys that can score at a high level, will help take the pressure off the other.
“I think if you’re going to win at this level, you need multiple guys and you got to have a team full of guys that can all play well together, they’re connected. I think that’s the biggest thing when you’re assembling a roster is making sure you’re putting together a team and not just a bunch of individuals,” DeVries said.
DeVries has been hot on the recruiting trail, picking up multiple commitments out of the transfer portal over the last two months. He says part of the reason he took the job in Morgantown was because of the fan support, which is something he has been able to sell to recruits.
“I think the fans and the fan support is critical. When you’re at these jobs, they’re hard leagues and you’ve got to have a home-court advantage and they certainly have that. It’s a passionate fanbase, and I love that part about it,” DeVries said. “They really care about their hoops, so that’s exciting. There’s support there in all aspects and that’s critical today in the recruiting world as well.”
DeVries has gotten seven commitments out of the transfer portal and two commitments from high school prospects. Now for DeVries, it’s just the waiting game until the Mountaineers get going on the court this summer.
“I love the makeup of our roster right now. I think they’re all very committed to winning, they’re hungry, they’re ready to go out and compete and I can’t wait for us to all get started in a few weeks when we start the summer workouts,” DeVries said.
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