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Darian DeVries grew up in Iowa, an admirer of the Indiana University Hoosiers men’s basketball team.
Now he’s in charge of the program.
Just two days after DeVries’ West Virginia University team and the Hoosiers were both left out of the NCAA tournament, IU Athletic Director Scott Dolson announced he has hired the 49-year-old DeVries to replace Mike Woodson as head coach.
Woodson had been under fire most of the past two seasons because his teams have underperformed and did not make the NCAA tournament.
DeVries coached one season at West Virginia after coaching six years at Drake University.
He had a combined 169-68 (71.3%) overall record at those two schools and was 89-43 in conference play.
DeVries is scheduled to be introduced at Wednesday morning news conference.
“This is unquestionably one of the top jobs in America,” DeVries said in a statement, explaining why left the Mountaineers after just one season. “There’s a passion to succeed at the very highest levels both within the Big Ten [Conference] and in the NCAA tournament, and that’s a desire that as a coach I share.”
DeVries has spent 24 seasons as a college basketball coach, the last seven as a head coach. He went 19-13 with the Mountaineers just one season after they finished 9-23 and last in the Big 12.
He spent the previous six years in his home state, helping Drake achieve new heights by winning two Missouri Valley Conference regular-season league titles and two league tournament titles while posting a 150-55 mark.
Indiana announced Woodson’s departure last month. The Hoosiers missed the NCAA tourney in each of Woodson’s final two seasons, prompting Indiana fans to sour on the one-time Hoosiers basketball star and coach Bob Knight protege.
Dolson said he was seeking specific criteria from Woodson’s replacement. DeVries hit—or exceeded—those expectations in virtually every form.
“Once we had a chance to talk to him, we knew we had the right person,” said Dolson, who made similar comments after hiring Curt Cignetti as the Hoosiers football coach in December 2023. “Darian has a plan for building a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a year-in, year-out basis.”
As a head coach, DeVries created a reputation as someone capable of quick fixes. He did it not just last season with the Mountaineers, despite having lost most of the previous season’s top players, but also at Drake where he took over a program that had five 20-win seasons in 112 years.
The Bulldogs went 24-10 and earned a share of the MVC regular-season title in DeVries’ first season, winning the league’s coach of the year award. It was just the start for DeVries, who topped the 20-win mark each season he was in Des Moines, Iowa, and led one of only three Division I programs with 25 or more wins in each of his last four seasons.
Indiana University President Pamela Whitten said she believes DeVries will bring more of the same to Indiana.
“It is my expectation that our university strives for greatness in everything we do from academics to athletics,” she said. “Darian has demonstrated that he embraces that elite standard. In fact, he has a well-established track record of elevating programs to new levels of success. This is a great day for IU men’s basketball and Indiana University.”
DeVries spent his first two decades in the profession at Creighton, where he worked under current Oregon coach Dana Altman and current Bluejays coach Greg McDermott. He spent the last 17 seasons as an assistant coach.
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Recruit Indiana coach! And find some players who can shoot!
His son is one of the best shooters in the country and will be coming along. So there’s a start for you.
We need shooters. And young men that respect the Candy Stripes in the form of – hustle.
Ode’ to DeVries
There once was a coach named DeVries,
Who dreamed of the Hoosiers with ease.
From Hawkeye-land he came,
To revive IU’s game,
And get fans off their knees, if you please.
The banners hang high in the Hall,
Where Knight used to rage and enthrall.
The chairs used to fly,
Now fans just sigh,
“Dear Darian, just win us them all!”
With Drake and WVU tamed,
Now Bloomington’s beast must be claimed.
The fans? They’re insane,
One loss and they rain,
Fire tweets that would make Knight ashamed!
So Darian, best buckle in,
At IU, there’s no second spin.
If you cut down the nets,
They’ll build you a fence—
Lose twice? You’ll be coaching in Flint!
Best IBJ comment of the year! Thank you!
Bravo!! 🙂
I’d say that poem pretty much nails it!
If Dolson’s choice carries this off, quickly….added to the football home run….he’ll be AD of the Century. He just MAY have the ability to recognize lightning in a bottle.
Only if he has a starting lineup ready to follow him here like Cignetti did, and I’m okay with that!
If not for his son getting injured, they likely are a 6-8 seed in the current tournament. They had a good class coming in, some of those guys will follow in addition to a huge NIL commitment.
Nothing is guaranteed, but I think there is a good chance we look back and see that IU got it right.
Assuming, of course, that the poem posted above doesn’t come true, and IU’s fan base blows it with their usual antics. Nonsense like showing up at high school games and creeping out recruits, or booing players during games.
The sooner that IU’s fan base realizes that times have changed and it’s never going to be like the Bob Knight heyday, the better. They can’t continue giving head coaches a two year window to get something done or start agitating for the immediate firing.
Expecting immediate results isn’t unique to IU fans, its the world we live in and its been proven possible from coaches like Cignetti, Rick Pitino at St. John’s and Iona, among several others. There’s no reason it can’t be like the Bob Knight heyday, especially with the NIL resources IU has, the appeal of the Bloomington campus and the depth of talent each year around the State. Great hire, excited for the new era of IU Hoops, and great Ode Don B!