Passion, fit a perfect match for DeVries at West Virginia
Darian DeVries knew that it would take a special place to pull him away from Drake.
The Bulldogs head coach for six seasons, DeVries was instrumental in one of the best periods in school history going 150-55 over that span and heading to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions.
A native Iowan, DeVries didn’t want to leave for any opportunity. It had to be the opportunity.
West Virginia proved to be just that.
“When I talked to Wren (Baker) and talked to people that know this program and this place and the people here everything about it made sense to me. It made sense to my family that this was a place we could see ourselves at a very, very long time,” he said.
Typically, the last part of that statement is something to be taken with a grain of salt in the coaching profession, but DeVries has the track record to prove it. He was at Creighton as a graduate assistant and assistant coach for 20 years prior to his only other stop at Drake.
Similar to his move to Morgantown, DeVries wanted to wait for the right opportunity and eventually found it when the Bulldogs job came open as a native Iowan. The vision and the plan for that program aligned with his and the same happened when he sat down with Baker for the West Virginia job.
And with his family fully on board, DeVries embraced the challenge.
“He’s done his homework. He knew about the culture here; he knew about our values, and he made it clear he didn’t just want a job, he wanted this job,” Baker said.
One of the things that drew multiple candidates to the job was the passionate fan base and Baker explained to each that in order to lead the program you had to embrace being a representative of the state.
In fact, Baker compared it to Nebraska’s athletic program given DeVries' time spent in the state at Creighton and the draw and passion the people have for the sports teams.
With that comes some backlash at times, but the good far outweighs any bad.
“If that’s the price you have to pay to have passion on game days and a full Coliseum and people are excited about the program then it’s worth it,” he said.
It was something that Baker felt he was going to initially have to sell to candidates, but they were already well aware of the power that West Virginia holds on that front. And it was exactly what DeVries wanted.
“The incredible tradition and passionate fan base is what makes this place so special. You are what makes this place so special.” DeVries said.
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