In a shocking turn of events, the West Virginia Mountaineers have lost their head coach to the Indiana Hoosiers after just one season with the program.
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported the news that West Virginia’s Darian DeVries has accepted Indiana’s head coaching job, filling the vacancy and sending the Mountaineers into the coaching carousel.
The loss for West Virginia is a crushing one, as the group had found an incredible basketball coach of their own following the disappointing downfall of legendary head coach Bob Huggins. The group promoted Josh Eilert to interim coach in 2023-24 after Huggins stepped down due to receiving a DUI, which put the program in a rough spot.
Eilert led the group to a last-place finish in his interim year, finishing with an overall record of 9-23 and 4-14 in league play. After the season ended, the Mountaineers entered the coaching carousel and set their sights on Drake’s Darian DeVries. He went on to accept the position and quickly put together an impressive roster in Morgantown.
Led by one of the best point guards in the country, Javon Small, DeVries’ squad completely flipped the script from 2023-24, improving the team’s overall record by 10 wins and their conference record by six.
Unfortunately, all of that success comes with a cost, as the Mountaineers’ head coach has quickly become a hot commodity in the coaching carousel. With West Virginia being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, DeVries entered the offseason multiple weeks earlier than initially intended, which gives Indiana some room to work.
Indiana pursuing DeVries was significantly concerning for West Virginia fans as the program boasts one of the largest NIL budgets in the nation and is tied at the hip with the history of college basketball.
In the end, West Virginia could not hold off the Hoosiers and will now enter the coaching carousel for the third time in as many seasons.
