When West Virginia men's basketball heads to Italy in just over a week, the final score of the three games they play will be somewhat meaningless to head coach Darian DeVries.
The Mountaineers announced their three-game schedule on Tuesday, but the wins and losses are not the most important thing for DeVries and his group.
"They’re a great opportunity, mostly from just a chance to [first] go see the world, that’s something a lot of these guys, myself included may not ever get a chance to do, to go see places like Italy. But more importantly, just a chance to get to spend some time outside of basketball in a different type of perspective with one another," DeVries said. "That’s what I love about the timing of this trip for us — got a whole new group, whole new staff. So get to spend 10-11 days on a trip it’s certainly good timing for us to get to know each other on a more personal level outside of basketball."
The three stops for games will be in Genoa, Florence, and Rome, giving DeVries three chances to see his group on the floor and try to test different things.
"In Italy we’ll use throw different lineups there just to get a look at different things. Some guys will play more or less, we’ll try to play the younger guys a little more just to get them some post-high school experience," DeVries said. "You never really know what you’re going to get over there. Sometimes you get a great game and really challenged and sometimes you don’t. I just want us to play together, play the way we want them to play every night and I don’t expect it to be great. When you travel and do all that stuff, we’re not doing a shoot around, a walkthrough, just go play. That’s the way they like it."
A key component for DeVries seems to be getting his younger guys real game action. DeVries has a pair of freshmen — KJ Tenner and Jonathan Powell, who will likely see minutes this season, while they also have walk-on Dylan Jay.
"I think it’s the progression," DeVries said of what he wants to take away from the trip. "I don’t try and put a lot into it. I’ve been on several of these now and some head coaches they sit in the stands and watch in these games. I always felt it’s good, especially with a new group, I need to be out there and coach them," DeVries said.
DeVries mentioned last season at Drake, his group went to Spain and he got to throw young guys in with a lead late in the game and see how they responded. He wasn't concerned about if his team won or lost the game, but more so how they played as a unit and in situations they would see during the regular season.
"I think for the most part it’s try to get them a little bit of a rhythm together, an identity of how we want to play, but you take into account all the travel and all the stuff that goes with it," DeVries said. I don’t have unrealistic expectations of what it’s going to look like. I’d love for it to be a great game.
"I know last year we took our team to Spain when I was at Drake and we got beat in our first game. We were up 15 with like 10 minutes to go and we played the young guys and it was the greatest thing ever because they had to finish out a game. Whether we won or lost wasn’t the point, the point was they’re in a situation they’re going to see and we got an opportunity to watch how they responded. I’m hoping we get something like that again on this trip."
DeVries still recognizes the importance of a trip like this, an opportunity that comes up every four years. He said these trips aren't as crucial now as they used to be with more allotted time during the summer, but either way, his group is going to take full advantage of the extra practice time.
"It used to be this was a huge deal, every four years you get those 10 extra practices because you don’t get access or you only had two hours a week. Now with four hours a week, you get those 10 extra practices but you can go a little longer," DeVries said. "A day like today where this is our Italy practice so to speak so now you can extend it a little longer do a few more things. It’s not quite as valuable but still some benefit, allowed us to put in some things, do some extra film work, that type of stuff in the middle of the summer."
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