--West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries is looking to see progress out of his team to see where they're at including zone offense and some other things now it's about getting ready to play a game. The summer and fall was to put everything they could to get ready to play a game and now it's about adjusting and tweaking.
--DeVries said they will do a skeleton scout of Charleston given the fact they have so many new players.
--In his second year at Drake they were struggling a little bit and trying to plug holes but they got away from fundamentals and from that point on they did a much better job of getting ready to play people and staying sharp on what they needed to learn instead of going from opponent to opponent. DeVries thinks building a program presents it challenges either way but you need to just show up and work. There is a lot of different things involved depending on the team and it's about putting their best foot forward.
--DeVries said that the joy of coaching his son has been to celebrate those times he has played well and he has been able to learn a lot from those bad times coaching him as well. in the crunch time he is a player, not his son. It's never about him and he has a very good feel for the game and DeVries asks him what he's seeing to him. DeVries lets his team has a voice in the huddle because there is no greater voice than the guys out on the floor to provide some input to make better decisions.
--DeVries said they've had a couple wings that weren't great three point shooters but most of the forwards they've had are that stretch forward variety to get them out in space. They are intentional to recruiting to the style they want to play. They want as much skill out there as you can but also making sure you can rebound and defend.
--DeVries said they might have one big that won't step out in space to shoot threes, but in general the whole group has the ability to stretch the floor.
--DeVries said he never had any apprehension about coaching his son because he doesn't need to know everything that's going on in the locker room. The players go to Tucker DeVries sometimes to get out of conditioning but they haven't had any luck there.
--DeVries said they've redshirted a lot of guys in the past and now that players don't have to sit out there aren't that built in redshirts. It's been nice to have one or two guys to come in and you didn't need all 13 of those guys. He tries to leave it up to the kid and they'll talk about where they see them and they'll do that. There's certainly a possibility of one or two this year, but the mindset is you go right up to game time because he doesn't want anybody taking the approach of not being ready to play. He wants every guy competing for a starting spot.
--He think that is an interesting thing giving players a percentage of games and still keep their redshirt in fact like football. It's something he supports.
--DeVries said his team is ready to play somebody else and they're at that point right now and they want to see something new. The team is excited about the chance to play. When there is a coaching change, there is no built-in little break after the season because you're stepping right in day one and it's nonstop until the end of that next season.
--DeVries said he doesn't know where they will be slotted in the Big 12 and he doesn't put a lot of stock into it.
--A lot of where they recruit is connections and they are recruiting coast to coast. They are going anywhere they can and cast as wide of a net as possible. What's been very good is everybody is willing to listen and nationally people understand the tradition of West Virginia basketball. West Virginia is a place that's always had a high level of basketball and commitment to it.
--Not really when it comes to determining number of kids they'll sign early or late, you have to be opportunistic in recruiting and when you feel somebody fits and it makes sense you go ahead and go after that. You don't want to limit yourself because there is too much uncertainty. There's just no way to predict that.
--DeVries believes that the transfer portal being shortened to 30-days is helpful for coaches.
--DeVries said they will do a skeleton scout of Charleston given the fact they have so many new players.
--In his second year at Drake they were struggling a little bit and trying to plug holes but they got away from fundamentals and from that point on they did a much better job of getting ready to play people and staying sharp on what they needed to learn instead of going from opponent to opponent. DeVries thinks building a program presents it challenges either way but you need to just show up and work. There is a lot of different things involved depending on the team and it's about putting their best foot forward.
--DeVries said that the joy of coaching his son has been to celebrate those times he has played well and he has been able to learn a lot from those bad times coaching him as well. in the crunch time he is a player, not his son. It's never about him and he has a very good feel for the game and DeVries asks him what he's seeing to him. DeVries lets his team has a voice in the huddle because there is no greater voice than the guys out on the floor to provide some input to make better decisions.
--DeVries said they've had a couple wings that weren't great three point shooters but most of the forwards they've had are that stretch forward variety to get them out in space. They are intentional to recruiting to the style they want to play. They want as much skill out there as you can but also making sure you can rebound and defend.
--DeVries said they might have one big that won't step out in space to shoot threes, but in general the whole group has the ability to stretch the floor.
--DeVries said he never had any apprehension about coaching his son because he doesn't need to know everything that's going on in the locker room. The players go to Tucker DeVries sometimes to get out of conditioning but they haven't had any luck there.
--DeVries said they've redshirted a lot of guys in the past and now that players don't have to sit out there aren't that built in redshirts. It's been nice to have one or two guys to come in and you didn't need all 13 of those guys. He tries to leave it up to the kid and they'll talk about where they see them and they'll do that. There's certainly a possibility of one or two this year, but the mindset is you go right up to game time because he doesn't want anybody taking the approach of not being ready to play. He wants every guy competing for a starting spot.
--He think that is an interesting thing giving players a percentage of games and still keep their redshirt in fact like football. It's something he supports.
--DeVries said his team is ready to play somebody else and they're at that point right now and they want to see something new. The team is excited about the chance to play. When there is a coaching change, there is no built-in little break after the season because you're stepping right in day one and it's nonstop until the end of that next season.
--DeVries said he doesn't know where they will be slotted in the Big 12 and he doesn't put a lot of stock into it.
--A lot of where they recruit is connections and they are recruiting coast to coast. They are going anywhere they can and cast as wide of a net as possible. What's been very good is everybody is willing to listen and nationally people understand the tradition of West Virginia basketball. West Virginia is a place that's always had a high level of basketball and commitment to it.
--Not really when it comes to determining number of kids they'll sign early or late, you have to be opportunistic in recruiting and when you feel somebody fits and it makes sense you go ahead and go after that. You don't want to limit yourself because there is too much uncertainty. There's just no way to predict that.
--DeVries believes that the transfer portal being shortened to 30-days is helpful for coaches.
