West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries held his first radio show of 2025 on Thursday evening. DeVries and the Mountaineers are coming off an upset win over Kansas and are set to face Oklahoma State on Saturday.
DeVries went into detail about the Kansas win, talked about Oklahoma State, and talked about what he's liked from point guard Javon Small recently.
Kansas Recap
DeVries outlined the travel struggles the Mountaineers faced on their trek to Lawrence. He said the tires of the plane they were supposed to take fell flat upon landing in Morgantown, and therefore, they had to get another plane.
This meant, according to DeVries, their travel day turned into 13 hours. They then canceled shootaround upon arrival in the early morning hours in Kansas, and said his group got 5-6 hours of sleep before a walkthrough in the team hotel.
Once the game tipped off, DeVries said he was very happy with how his team controlled the pace of the game and was able to get up on the scoreboard early.
"I think the good start really helped too. You get ahead, and you can play with a lead that allows you to play at a more comfortable level," DeVries said.
Things got tough for the Mountaineers late in the game, but DeVries was proud of how his team handled the comeback by Kansas. He said everyone who touched the floor made an impact towards winning the game.
"That was fun to watch them kind of go through that and fight that one out," DeVries said.
Javon Small
Since Tucker DeVries has been sidelined due to injury, everything surrounding the Mountaineers has started and stopped with Javon Small.
Small scored 13 points while he scored the final seven of the game for the Mountaineers. He also finished with 11 total rebounds, which was the second-highest total of his career.
"I thought he had complete control of the game from start to finish," DeVries said of Small.
While DeVries marveled at Small's ability to lead this group, he made sure to mention true freshman point guard KJ Tenner, who provided valuable minutes as well. DeVries said Tenner is able to help Small in more ways than one, getting him off the ball on both offense and defense, as Small has played 35 or more minutes in seven of WVU's 12 games this season.
"That’s big for us because I don’t know if you notice, I’m playing Javon a lot of minutes. It’s nice to get him off the ball and get him a little bit of a breather and not have to handle it every single possession," DeVries said.
DeVries also said that Tenner has played with a lot of poise and has taken care of the ball at a high level, which helps his team as well.
"For a freshman to be able to come in and give you that luxury, I think is pretty impressive for him to be able to play with that composure," DeVries said.
Thoughts on Oklahoma State
DeVries and West Virginia welcome the Oklahoma State Cowboys for their first home Big 12 matchup of the year on Saturday. OSU is 8-4 on the season coming into the game with a loss to Houston to open Big 12 play.
Like WVU, Oklahoma State is led by a first-year head coach, Steve Lutz, who worked with DeVries while they were both at Creighton.
"They’re just really aggressive on the defensive end. Maybe like a UMass from a defensive perspective early in the year," DeVries said.
Oklahoma State is forcing the third-most turnovers in the Big 12, and they also have the third-most steals in the league as well.
"They’re going to try to turn us over, they’re going to be really aggressive," DeVries said.
Quick Injury Update
West Virginia was without Tucker DeVries, Amani Hansberry, and Jayden Stone on Tuesday against Kansas.
Hansberry missed his first game of the season after he was injured in WVU's final non-conference game of the year. DeVries was asked about Hansberry's health heading into Saturday and said he continues to be day-to-day.
"Day to day. Like I said earlier, our job is we’ll try to get the guys back on the floor as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we got to go with the guys that are available each and every night. Hope to have the guys back as soon as we can," DeVries said.
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