Darian DeVries Describes Exit Talks with WVU AD Wren Baker

Former WVU basketball head coach Darian DeVries appeared on the podcast of CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on Thursday, June 12, discussing his decision to leave Morgantown for Indiana at the end of the 2024-25 season… and his talks with Mountaineers’ athletic director Wren Baker prior to the split.

Devries’ lone season at West Virginia marked his first in a major conference. Prior to that, he coached at Drake. Rothstein asked DeVries how he broke the news to Baker, the man who gave him that opportunity.

“Wren’s a terrific AD, and [I’m] certainly thankful for the opportunity he gave me — and their entire administration: Ben Murray, I worked with him a lot too. But it’s not an easy conversation,” DeVries said.

“It’s certainly something we had talked about, the two days there of what it looked like and the decision making process. I thought Wren was great about it. He certainly was disappointed, but I thought he gave me every opportunity to look at it and consider it. And ultimately, though, we decided that I was going to take the Indiana job. But he was great about it, very professional about it as you would expect.”

A Dream Job

When did DeVries first think he could land the Indiana job, which he described as a “dream job?” He said he left that up to his agents amidst the bustle of a concluding season.

“I’m not really sure,” DeVries said. “A lot of that last week of the season as it goes through, your agents are doing most of that communication. So, you just never really know until it’s right there. And like you said, that last 48 hours is when it started to become more of a reality of like ‘here’s this opportunity for you,’ and what does that look like?”

Despite calling the Hoosiers his dream job, Darian DeVries said he wasn’t looking to leave West Virginia, complimenting the Mountaineers’ administration for the support they showed him. Even so, the impression Morgantown made on DeVries couldn’t keep him from choosing Indiana.

“The timing of it, after being there just one year at West Virginia, and we had just a lot of great support from the administration, the people. So it was certainly a place that you weren’t looking to leave by any means,” DeVries said. “It was a place that we were very happy. We had an enjoyable year and were looking forward to the future together. But ultimately just felt like the Indiana job was just a job you couldn’t pass up.”

Shortened Senior Send-Off

The Mountaineers missed the NCAA Tournament by a razor-thin margin in 2025, landing as one of the First Four Out of the 68-team bracket. DeVries said he knew they might need to sweat out an at-large bid, saying his major concern was avoiding the First Four in Dayton, but that he ultimately believed the résumé they built would carry them into the tournament.

In the hours following the tournament snub — and with Indiana calling — Darian DeVries said his major concern was on his current team, especially the seniors who saw their college careers unceremoniously cut short.

“You get through that Sunday night and there’s a lot of emotions going through your head. Most of it’s concerning your team. I just felt so bad for those seniors because it just caught us off-guard that we weren’t going to be playing on that stage, and I wanted that so bad for them,” DeVries said.

“So then those next 24 to 48 hours when your season’s kind of officially over, and now you’ve got some decisions to make and thought processes to go through. Those are always difficult, and ultimately decided to come here to Indiana.”

For a related story, Wren Baker discussed Darian DeVries leaving WVU.