LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Two days after West Virginia and Indiana were the final two teams left out of the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Indiana University will hire Mountaineers’ coach Darian DeVries as Mike Woodson’s replacement.
IU athletic director Scott Dolson reached a deal with DeVries late Tuesday afternoon. DeVries will turn 50 next month.
“We went into this coaching search with some very specific things we were looking for in our next head coach, and Darian emerged as someone who, on paper, met and often exceeded our criteria,” Dolson said in a statement.
“Once we had a chance to talk to him, we knew we had the right person. Darian has a plan for building a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a year-in, year-out basis.
“He has extensive D-1 coaching experience that includes 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach or as an assistant. This past season at West Virginia, he inherited a last-place Big 12 team with no significant contributors returning, and managed to more than double its win total despite a pair of significant season-ending injuries.
Finally, he is passionate about the opportunity to lead our program. We are excited to welcome Darian and the entire DeVries family to our Hoosier family.”
“This is unquestionably one of the top jobs in America. As someone who grew up in the Midwest loving the game of basketball, I’ve always admired the IU Basketball program for its championship-level success, tradition, and fan support,” DeVries said.
“There’s a passion to succeed at the very highest levels both within the Big Ten and in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a desire that as a coach I share. On top of that, the alignment is there on a department and university level to make that happen. I’m excited for this opportunity and am ready to work relentlessly to assemble a staff and a roster that competes for championships.”
DeVries finished 19-13 in his only season at WVU, tied for seventh place in the Big 12 Conference. In six seasons as the head coach at Drake, DeVries won better than 73% of his games as well as one Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and two MVC tournaments.
DeVries took Drake to three NCAA Tournaments, going 1-3. He signed a five-year contract with West Virginia last March with a starting salary of $2.8 million.
A native of Iowa, DeVries played basketball at Northern Iowa for Greg McDermott and later served McDermott as an assistant coach at Creighton.
Although Ben McCollum of Drake, Brad Brownell of Clemson, Scott Drew of Baylor and other were linked to the job, DeVries moved to the top of the list this week.
“As President of IU, it is my expectation that our university strives for greatness in everything we do from academics to athletics,” IU President Pamela Whitten 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.”
Woodson announced his retirement from IU on Feb. 7 and the Hoosiers failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
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