At the heart of Darian DeVries’ basketball programs has always been culture.
That’s been reflected not only in his success but his ability to retain key pieces to his roster over the years and develop players within the framework of his program.
“A lot of it has to do with how they enjoyed their time within our program. They could have left, could have taken more money, could have gone other places for something new but they wanted to continue to finish out their careers and be a part of a team and program that they loved being at,” he said.
So naturally when it comes to assembling the roster at West Virginia, that will be a critical component to any players that suit up for the Mountaineers when the season opens this fall. The focus is on finding student-athletes who embrace the program and want to build it.
“What we’re looking for is we want players that want to be at West Virginia. We want players that want to be here because they want to be a part of what we have here,” he said.
DeVries had an historic six-year run atop the Drake program where he led the Bulldogs to a 150-55 record and took them to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years. And now the goal is to translate that success to the Big 12 Conference now atop the Mountaineers' program.
“The things that matter for winning matter at every level. We will put together a team that we feel can be successful. It’s not about collecting talent, it’s about putting together a team and we will certainly work hard to do that over the next few days and weeks,” he said.
And so far so good on that front as DeVries believes that West Virginia sells itself with the history of the program and the passion of the fan base. The reception that he’s received early has been positive.
“People are interested, they want to be a part of it. They love our style of play. For us it’s just continuing to sell that aspect of it,” DeVries said.
When it comes to roster construction, DeVries inherits several players from the previous staff and plans to meet with each of them to determine their plans and the plans of the staff. From there, the Mountaineers plan to fill the remaining needs on the roster with new additions.
That has changed in today’s climate, as that used to be around 80-percent from the high school level, but DeVries understands the importance of both that and the transfer portal now. So, while the transfer portal will certainly be utilized he doesn’t want to lose sight on the process of building from within.
“Find really talented high school players that want to be here and get this and retain them and have them have a great experience over the course of their career here,” he said.
DeVries has a process for building his teams and his track record has certainly shown it to be a successful one. And he doesn’t plan to deviate from that in order to build the foundation of this program.
“We will not sacrifice anything from a culture standpoint in any way, shape or form in terms of filling a roster,” he said. “We’re going to find the right guys to be here.”
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