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Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: March 29, 2024, 12:30 AM IST
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New West Virginia coach Darian DeVries brought some reinforcements from Drake.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.: New West Virginia coach Darian DeVries brought some reinforcements from Drake.
Tucker DeVries sat in the front row for his father’s introductory news conference Thursday as Darian announced his son, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, was joining him with the Mountaineers.
That might have drawn the biggest cheers from hundreds of West Virginia fans ready to move on from a year of misery.
Tucker called his father’s choice to come to West Virginia “a family decision.” His transfer wasn’t exactly a shock.
“For me to be able to come here for my senior year and be a part of all of this, I’m really looking forward to it and I’m really excited,” Tucker said.
He led Drake in scoring this season at 21.6 points per game. Tucker and his father had one final game at Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21, a 66-61 loss to Washington State.
That was just the start of a busy week.
The West Virginia hire was announced Sunday night, Tucker had surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday for an injury sustained in January but continued to play through. He entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. The 6-foot-7 guard’s right arm was in a sling Thursday, and he expects a full recovery by this summer.
“Ready to get healthy and get to work,” Tucker said.
Ultimately, that means experiencing Big 12 basketball.
“Growing up in the Midwest, you see a lot of the programs in the Big 12 around, and I have a lot of friends and former teammates in the Big 12,” Tucker DeVries said. “To be a part of that myself will be pretty special.”
The task will be enormous, and results may not be seen until after Tucker has used his competence. The new coach will be responsible for digging a program out of a hole that began with the resignation of Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins last summer. West Virginia lost a school-record 23 games this past season under interim coach Josh Eilert.
Darian has seen this type of rebuilding project before. When Drake arrived in 2018, he was the Bulldogs’ fourth coach in 16 months and the school had gone six straight seasons without a winning record.
He compiled a 150-55 record in six seasons and took Drake to the NCAA Tournament three times. Drake won at least 25 games in four straight seasons, tying a school record for wins this season at 28-7.
The five-year contract is worth $2.8 million in the first year with $100,000 rising each year. A top-six finish in the Big 12 in either of the first two seasons can earn him an automatic one-year extension plus another $100,000 bonus paid during a sixth season.
West Virginia will pay an unspecified buyout at Drake, according to its memorandum of understanding obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.
West Virginia, which joined the league in 2012, has never won a Big 12 tournament or regular-season title and has three last-place finishes since 2019.
“The Big 12 is obviously a very defensive league. It’s a very physical league,” said Darian. “There is no doubt that you have to defend in order to be successful in the Big 12. You have to be able to bounce back. You have to have some physicality. Your team has to have some toughness. We will recruit to that. We will train for that. We will learn that.”
And it will start with his son.
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AP March Madness Bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
