West Virginia basketball has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last couple of days, and it’s probably safe to say the folks in Morgantown would just like their offseason to get going so things will quiet down.
After being snubbed a well-deserved spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountaineers suffered a second blow with head coach Darien DeVries taking the Indiana job and leaving WVU behind after just one season.
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that DeVries has accepted Indiana’s head coaching job, filling the vacancy and sending the Mountaineers into the coaching carousel.
It all seemed to happen incredibly fast, and now, it appears that was the case for those involved in trying to keep DeVries around, too.
According to Tanner Mountz of Blue Gold Sports, West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker says he was never given the chance to counter Indiana’s offer.
Additionally, Baker says that he told DeVries, “within reason, we will do what it takes to keep you here and keep building on this program.”
Apparently, that wasn’t enough to keep the first-year head coach around, as he’ll now transition to building the Hoosiers program back into a title contender.
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.
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.
