West Virginia head men's basketball coach Darian DeVries gave a pair of injury updates, including an important one on his son, Tucker.
DeVries said Tucker has been fully cleared for contact and was cleared last week.
"He didn’t get cleared until last week. It was the first time he got to play with full contact. So, it was almost four months that he wasn’t allowed to do a whole lot of anything that had contact in it. We’re still being somewhat careful with it and picking and choosing some spots and rebounding drills and things like that. I believe it was last Tuesday he got full clearance for contact," DeVries said.
Tucker was dealing with a shoulder injury which he had surgery on following the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season with Drake. He is the two-time reigning MVC Player of the Year, averaging 21.6 points. 6.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game last season.
Despite being cleared, DeVries said Tucker is still getting back to trusting that his body has fully recovered, just like any athlete with any injury.
"I think that’s just as a coach, when a player is coming back from an injury, a broken foot, a knee, whatever it might be, anytime they take a fall, you’re probably always really happy when they get back up and don’t grab something," DeVries said. "If I feel that way, you know how the player feels when they’re coming back too. Being able to take a fall and get back up and know it’s okay. That’s part of the recovery process too. It’s not just, hey, you’re better, it’s mentally, I can take this hit and feel fine."
Another player DeVries is familiar with is Joseph Yesufu. He played for DeVries at Drake for two seasons, before playing two seasons at Kansas, but only appeared in six games last season before he was shutdown due to a hip injury.
DeVries said he hopes to have Yesufu back by the start of school in the mid-to-late August range, as they will also ease him into things.
"So far he’s right on schedule. We’ll continue to hopefully make progress there. I think he feels good about where he’s at. I think when we come back from the Italy trip, our plan is to try to work him into some half court stuff, some drill work. About the start of school, starting to get him back on the floor again," DeVries said of Yesufu.
WVU heads to Italy to start a three-game foreign tour on July 31.
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