--Wren Baker said that today is a day of celebration to celebrate the history of a top 20 winning basketball program of all time while looking forward. Baker recognized the current and former players in the room. They had tremendous interest from candidates all over the country and the interest was greater than any search he has conducted. The passion of the fans, the resources, the history and tradition and the quality and depth of the Big 12 made this a very desirable job. Baker wanted somebody that embraced the grit and committed to building a championship program on the court and leaders off it. They needed somebody that would navigate the current landscape and also somebody that could represent the program and the entire state. They wanted somebody that would entrench themselves in West Virginia and wanted somebody to embrace this state and community and while they vetted a lot, Darian DeVries stood out above the rest.
--Drake has played basketball for 118 seasons, they had 11 20 win seasons and 6 occurred under Darian DeVries. In those 118 seasons, Drake has made 7 NCAA Tournaments with 3 of those under DeVries. Drake has won 47-percent of their games, but DeVries won 73-percent so it's clear he is a winner. He has won big but done it with integrity and in 23 years has only been to two places. He is the only one that didn't fill the columns up with different stops on the spread sheet Baker had. He is amazingly loyal and showed maturity not to job chase. He was drawn not only to West Virginia basketball but Morgantown and West Virginia. He knew about the culture and the people and it was backed up by what he heard from others as he was giving cold shoulders to others schools that tried to engage him.
--Baker said it was clear that he was the perfect candidate for West Virginia.
--Baker never locked in on a certain profile and wanted to look at a variety of boxes but when you look at the depth and quality of the Big 12 there are some great coaches. There are risks when you take somebody that isn't a head coach so it helps when you have somebody that has that experience. He has great respect for the Missouri Valley and has a lot of respect for the job that DeVries did at Drake. He knew what it was when he took it over. That made him the best candidate and he is the one that checks all the boxes.
DEVRIES:
--DeVries thanked everybody for being in attendance and after issues with the Mic were corrected he said "halftime, adjustments!" which I thought was perfect. He thanked all of those involved with the search and called it an unbelievable opportunity. Also said that Baker has an unbelievable shoe game. DeVries understands the responsibility of being the head coach at West Virginia and said that he will do everything he can to make the fans proud. They're going to do it with integrity, do it the right way and work hard.
--DeVries thanked Drake and his time there as well as the Des Moines community for the six years he spent there. He feels incredibly fortunate and proud to coach so many young men that represented there in a first class manner.
--Most importantly he thanked his family. His wife of 26 years, his daughter and his son. Ashley, Tatum and Tucker.
--DeVries announces that Tucker will be joining West Virginia for his senior season to a round of applause. Makes a joke that it's always nice to get his first recruit and he had to work hard to get it done.
--Said it was a family decision and once they got into it the choice was easy because of the community and the people here. They've only been here for less than 24 hours but it still shines through what the community is all about and the way they've been embraced he can't to continue to engrain himself. He has worked at two tremendous institutions and worked for two of the greatest coaches in the game in Dana Altmann and Greg McDermott. They taught him it's more about just basketball, it's about people and developing people and he can't wait to continue to do that here.
--DeVries understands the tradition as the 20th winningest program and cited all the success in the NCAA Tournament. To have that success you have to have incredible players and coaches and he credited them. This program knows winning.
--The landscape of college basketball and athletics has changed and his staff as he continues to put it together will embrace that. They will do everything they can to roll with it as well as with help from the Country Roads Trust and supporters they will remain one of the premier basketball programs in the country.
--From a staff perspective, they will continue to put that together in the upcoming days and weeks and hope to have the staff put together as soon as possible to get out on the road during a very important recruiting period. From a player standpoint, they will continue to work hard in the spring and summer to meet with the current players and bring in new ones. They want to cover all regions from a staff perspective and continue to recruit young men that will represent the program in the right way. They will look for young men that have both talent and intangibles. He believes if you do that enough it equates to winning. They will have discipline, toughness that stands tall in all situations. He wants them to leave as great men.
--The incredible tradition and passionate fan base is what makes this place so special. You are what makes this place so special. The alumni and former players are what makes it so special. He said their success will be because of the support. He said that he hopes that they haven't seen anything yet and they will take it up another decibel level. DeVries said he hopes that opponents leave with some pepperoni rolls and the words of country roads ringing in their ears.
--DeVries said the biggest challenge as you change leagues in general is learning the league. He grew up in the Midwest and has an understanding of the league and knows many of the coaches. Now it's about building a staff and a roster. Basketball is still basketball the things that matter for winning matter at every level. They will put together a team that will be successful and they fit together. It's not about collecting talent it's about putting together a team and that's what they're working to do.
--He plans to meet with individuals on the roster to get a feel for their plans and his plans and they'll communicate that with each individual on the roster and will continue to fill other needs.
--DeVries said that there is unbelievable tradition and history here so there is a lot to sell with the passion. There is so much about this program that sells itself and in the few short days it's been an easy sell because people want to be a part of it and they love the style of play so it's just about continuing to sell that aspect of it.
--The style of play in the Big 12 is a defensive oriented league that is physical. The Missouri Valley has a lot of that it's just a different level in the Big 12. You have to be able to defend and rebound and have some physicality, toughness to win in the Big 12. West Virginia will recruit to that, coach to that and teach to that. When it comes to winning games you have to take care of the ball, defensive rebound and guard. That's winning and if you do those three areas well you have a chance to win every night. On offense, they want to get stops then get out in transition. It's something they talk about and do every day their goal is to score in the first 12 seconds of every possession because if you have a better chance to score against a broken defense. You have to make teams pay for trying to offensive rebound and get out in transition and run.
--DeVries wants players that want to be here because they want to be a part of what the school has to offer for all the right reasons. They will do a combination of high school and transfer portal where it used to be 80-percent high school. You have to continue to evolve and the portal is incredibly important and they want to continue to build from within and find very talented high school players and retain them throughout the course of their career.
--DeVries had a chance to reach out to Gale Catlett, John Beilein and Bob Huggins to get their input on the program and the success they've had here. The success speaks for itself and some of their success came at his expense when West Virginia beat Creighton in the NCAA Tournament. He didn't know all the ins and outs until he really started digging into it but realized it's an unbelievable situation. DeVries thinks that Baker has an unbelievable vision for what this program is and what it can become.
--DeVries isn't placing any numbers when it comes to wins with expectations. He wants them to be more on the wins side this upcoming year, but it has to be about the process and making sure they don't sacrifice that to bring in players that don't fit or match what they want to build the program. If it works out great, but they won't sacrifice anything from a culture standpoint to build a roster. They want to build a winning culture, a team culture and the wins will come.
--The last three years, DeVries has had an opportunity to coach his son and he's missed that due to his profession growing up. He gets a lot of that back and spend some day to day time. They are player/coach on the floor and can't wait for this opportunity for him to go out there and compete with his new teammates.
--DeVries comes from a football family but he had to go a different route. He was 140-pounds coming out of high school so this was a better path for him.
--DeVries spent 20 years at Creighton because that was the place he loved and his family loved and he wasn't going to leave for just any job he wanted the right one. That was Drake University and he spent the last six years there and there was a vision and plan. He said at the time it would take something pretty special because he's from Iowa to have him leave there and when he talked to Wren and people that know the place everything about it made sense and it's a place they could see themselves at for a very, very long time.
--On the low turnover and transfers out at Drake, DeVries said that the hope is that they have the same success here. They enjoyed their time within the program and while they could have left, they wanted to finish out their careers and be a part of a team and a program they loved being there. He wants the same thing here to finish their careers.
--Drake has played basketball for 118 seasons, they had 11 20 win seasons and 6 occurred under Darian DeVries. In those 118 seasons, Drake has made 7 NCAA Tournaments with 3 of those under DeVries. Drake has won 47-percent of their games, but DeVries won 73-percent so it's clear he is a winner. He has won big but done it with integrity and in 23 years has only been to two places. He is the only one that didn't fill the columns up with different stops on the spread sheet Baker had. He is amazingly loyal and showed maturity not to job chase. He was drawn not only to West Virginia basketball but Morgantown and West Virginia. He knew about the culture and the people and it was backed up by what he heard from others as he was giving cold shoulders to others schools that tried to engage him.
--Baker said it was clear that he was the perfect candidate for West Virginia.
--Baker never locked in on a certain profile and wanted to look at a variety of boxes but when you look at the depth and quality of the Big 12 there are some great coaches. There are risks when you take somebody that isn't a head coach so it helps when you have somebody that has that experience. He has great respect for the Missouri Valley and has a lot of respect for the job that DeVries did at Drake. He knew what it was when he took it over. That made him the best candidate and he is the one that checks all the boxes.
DEVRIES:
--DeVries thanked everybody for being in attendance and after issues with the Mic were corrected he said "halftime, adjustments!" which I thought was perfect. He thanked all of those involved with the search and called it an unbelievable opportunity. Also said that Baker has an unbelievable shoe game. DeVries understands the responsibility of being the head coach at West Virginia and said that he will do everything he can to make the fans proud. They're going to do it with integrity, do it the right way and work hard.
--DeVries thanked Drake and his time there as well as the Des Moines community for the six years he spent there. He feels incredibly fortunate and proud to coach so many young men that represented there in a first class manner.
--Most importantly he thanked his family. His wife of 26 years, his daughter and his son. Ashley, Tatum and Tucker.
--DeVries announces that Tucker will be joining West Virginia for his senior season to a round of applause. Makes a joke that it's always nice to get his first recruit and he had to work hard to get it done.
--Said it was a family decision and once they got into it the choice was easy because of the community and the people here. They've only been here for less than 24 hours but it still shines through what the community is all about and the way they've been embraced he can't to continue to engrain himself. He has worked at two tremendous institutions and worked for two of the greatest coaches in the game in Dana Altmann and Greg McDermott. They taught him it's more about just basketball, it's about people and developing people and he can't wait to continue to do that here.
--DeVries understands the tradition as the 20th winningest program and cited all the success in the NCAA Tournament. To have that success you have to have incredible players and coaches and he credited them. This program knows winning.
--The landscape of college basketball and athletics has changed and his staff as he continues to put it together will embrace that. They will do everything they can to roll with it as well as with help from the Country Roads Trust and supporters they will remain one of the premier basketball programs in the country.
--From a staff perspective, they will continue to put that together in the upcoming days and weeks and hope to have the staff put together as soon as possible to get out on the road during a very important recruiting period. From a player standpoint, they will continue to work hard in the spring and summer to meet with the current players and bring in new ones. They want to cover all regions from a staff perspective and continue to recruit young men that will represent the program in the right way. They will look for young men that have both talent and intangibles. He believes if you do that enough it equates to winning. They will have discipline, toughness that stands tall in all situations. He wants them to leave as great men.
--The incredible tradition and passionate fan base is what makes this place so special. You are what makes this place so special. The alumni and former players are what makes it so special. He said their success will be because of the support. He said that he hopes that they haven't seen anything yet and they will take it up another decibel level. DeVries said he hopes that opponents leave with some pepperoni rolls and the words of country roads ringing in their ears.
--DeVries said the biggest challenge as you change leagues in general is learning the league. He grew up in the Midwest and has an understanding of the league and knows many of the coaches. Now it's about building a staff and a roster. Basketball is still basketball the things that matter for winning matter at every level. They will put together a team that will be successful and they fit together. It's not about collecting talent it's about putting together a team and that's what they're working to do.
--He plans to meet with individuals on the roster to get a feel for their plans and his plans and they'll communicate that with each individual on the roster and will continue to fill other needs.
--DeVries said that there is unbelievable tradition and history here so there is a lot to sell with the passion. There is so much about this program that sells itself and in the few short days it's been an easy sell because people want to be a part of it and they love the style of play so it's just about continuing to sell that aspect of it.
--The style of play in the Big 12 is a defensive oriented league that is physical. The Missouri Valley has a lot of that it's just a different level in the Big 12. You have to be able to defend and rebound and have some physicality, toughness to win in the Big 12. West Virginia will recruit to that, coach to that and teach to that. When it comes to winning games you have to take care of the ball, defensive rebound and guard. That's winning and if you do those three areas well you have a chance to win every night. On offense, they want to get stops then get out in transition. It's something they talk about and do every day their goal is to score in the first 12 seconds of every possession because if you have a better chance to score against a broken defense. You have to make teams pay for trying to offensive rebound and get out in transition and run.
--DeVries wants players that want to be here because they want to be a part of what the school has to offer for all the right reasons. They will do a combination of high school and transfer portal where it used to be 80-percent high school. You have to continue to evolve and the portal is incredibly important and they want to continue to build from within and find very talented high school players and retain them throughout the course of their career.
--DeVries had a chance to reach out to Gale Catlett, John Beilein and Bob Huggins to get their input on the program and the success they've had here. The success speaks for itself and some of their success came at his expense when West Virginia beat Creighton in the NCAA Tournament. He didn't know all the ins and outs until he really started digging into it but realized it's an unbelievable situation. DeVries thinks that Baker has an unbelievable vision for what this program is and what it can become.
--DeVries isn't placing any numbers when it comes to wins with expectations. He wants them to be more on the wins side this upcoming year, but it has to be about the process and making sure they don't sacrifice that to bring in players that don't fit or match what they want to build the program. If it works out great, but they won't sacrifice anything from a culture standpoint to build a roster. They want to build a winning culture, a team culture and the wins will come.
--The last three years, DeVries has had an opportunity to coach his son and he's missed that due to his profession growing up. He gets a lot of that back and spend some day to day time. They are player/coach on the floor and can't wait for this opportunity for him to go out there and compete with his new teammates.
--DeVries comes from a football family but he had to go a different route. He was 140-pounds coming out of high school so this was a better path for him.
--DeVries spent 20 years at Creighton because that was the place he loved and his family loved and he wasn't going to leave for just any job he wanted the right one. That was Drake University and he spent the last six years there and there was a vision and plan. He said at the time it would take something pretty special because he's from Iowa to have him leave there and when he talked to Wren and people that know the place everything about it made sense and it's a place they could see themselves at for a very, very long time.
--On the low turnover and transfers out at Drake, DeVries said that the hope is that they have the same success here. They enjoyed their time within the program and while they could have left, they wanted to finish out their careers and be a part of a team and a program they loved being there. He wants the same thing here to finish their careers.
