Devries to West Virginia

by **tribecalledquest** » March 24th, 2024, 5:17 pm

https://twitter.com/petethamel/status/1 ... gqhhqtjx-A

**Sponsor**

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » March 24th, 2024, 5:32 pm

Damn it. The WVU broadcaster in the sports broadcasting Discord group I’m in ended up being right.

Wonder if Drake will swipe McCollum from right under Missouri St’s nose. McCollum has top tier MVC coach written all over him.

by **Drakey** » March 24th, 2024, 5:41 pm

D2 coaches are a big gamble. McCollum is obviously great at coaching a certain level of player. What you never know is if they can recruit the level of player you need at D1.

by **DUBulldog** » March 24th, 2024, 6:02 pm

Drakey wrote:D2 coaches are a big gamble. McCollum is obviously great at coaching a certain level of player. What you never know is if they can recruit the level of player you need at D1.

And, does he know anything about hitting the transfer portal or NIL?

I scanned his roster, and there doesn't appear to be any MVC level players on the team

by **tribecalledquest** » March 24th, 2024, 6:52 pm

Drakey wrote:D2 coaches are a big gamble. McCollum is obviously great at coaching a certain level of player. What you never know is if they can recruit the level of player you need at D1.

A gamble compared to what?

Guys who have built programs, coached actual games and won games are a lot safer than hiring an assistant coach.

by **Bulldog4life24** » March 24th, 2024, 8:34 pm

Names so far I’ve seen folks mention:

Marty Richter (current Drake assistant)
Coach Mac
Spradlin
Henderson

by **Drakey** » March 24th, 2024, 8:36 pm

Our assistant coach has coached 66 more games as a head coach than Devries had when we hired him. He was head coach at a JUCO before he came to Drake and was 56-10. He has recruited numerous D1 players including 7 from his last team at SW Florida. When Devries was hired I was very glad we got Richter as an assistant because I knew he at least had coached a game before. I don't know if Devries was responsible for our success or Richter. He also started the program at SW Florida State from scratch before coming to Drake.

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » March 24th, 2024, 8:39 pm

Classy statement from Drake AD:

“The litmus test for any employee that departs a place of employment is, ‘did they leave it better than they found it? It is easy to say that Darian DeVries has left our men’s basketball program and our athletics department in incredible positions thanks to his six years at Drake. Darian led the Drake men’s basketball team to new heights on the court while establishing an elite culture off the court. He was an incredible mentor to the men in our men’s basketball program for the last six years and a wonderful representative of our department. We are grateful to Darian for his leadership and wish him the best in his next journey.”

by **DUBulldog** » March 24th, 2024, 8:40 pm

Last time Drake hired a guy with D1 head coaching experience, it was an absolute disaster (Giacoletti).

DeVries was an assistant coach who certainly worked out.

There's no guarantees.

I think they'll have a lot of qualified applicants.

The guys doing the hiring are pretty sharp.

I just hope they do it as quickly as possible, as the new coach will likely have at least 10 scholarships to fill.

by **tribecalledquest** » March 24th, 2024, 9:01 pm

DUBulldog wrote:Last time Drake hired a guy with D1 head coaching experience, it was an absolute disaster (Giacoletti).

DeVries was an assistant coach who certainly worked out.

There's no guarantees.

I think they'll have a lot of qualified applicants.

The guys doing the hiring are pretty sharp.

I just hope they do it as quickly as possible, as the new coach will likely have at least 10 scholarships to fill.

Absolutely there are no guarantees. Hiring a D2 guy is no bigger a gamble than anyone else.

Didn’t Niko Medved come from Furman?