College Basketball
Making the Case for Darian DeVries as National Coach of the Year

Most reasonable expectations were low for what Darian DeVries could accomplish in his first season at the WVU helm. Even those who had hope were still uncertain what to truly expect from DeVries in his first high press major job.
Trying to resurrect the West Virginia program after two years full of drama and losing while competing in a loaded Big 12 Conference, AND doing it with a roster full of transfer players wasn’t going to be easy. Fast forward to the present day and DeVries has the Mountaineers nationally ranked and comfortably in position to make the NCAA Tournament.
Based on WVU’s success, especially while dealing with key injuries throughout the season, DeVries deserves consideration as the National Coach of the Year. While coaches like Kentucky’s Mark Pope, Michigan’s Dusty May, Louisville’s Pat Kelsey and even Georgetown’s Ed Cooley have been brought up as candidates throughout the season, it’s time DeVries joins the chat.
Veteran college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said as much after watching West Virginia’s 64-57 win then over No. 2 Iowa State on Saturday.
“I watched the Iowa State vs. WVU tape this morning. Iโve always been a fan of Javon Small. He is getting his due. But the coaching job that Iโm watching, offensively and defensively, is โnational coach of the yearโ worthy by Coach DeVries. They are heading to the NCAA tournament at this point.”ย
I watched the @CycloneMBB @WVUhoops tape this morning. Iโve always been a fan of Javon Small. He is getting his due. But the coaching job that Iโm watching, offensively and defensively, is โnational coach of the yearโ worthy by @Coach_DeVries. They are heading to the NCAAโฆ
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) January 20, 2025
DeVries, who did claim the Jim Phelan National Mid-Season Coach of the Year honor, has West Virginia sitting at 13-4 (4-2, Big 12).
Below is what was said about DeVries by James Wilhelmi, senior analyst for CollegeInsider.com and longtime NCAA coach, when his midseason recognition was announced.
โCoach DeVries has transformed West Virginiaโs program with a remarkable first-half performance, already surpassing last seasonโs win total,โ Wilhelmi said in a statement. โHis ability to instill confidence and execute a clear vision has energized the team. DeVriesโ leadership has been nothing short of impressive, setting a strong foundation for a possible run in March.โ
What DeVries has already accomplished so far goes far beyond just the team’s record or ranking, too. After taking over a program that arguably endured the literal worst season in program history, DeVries was tasked with rebuilding the roster of transfers and talented freshman. But in an ironic and unfortunate twist of fate, DeVries has West Virginia beating the top teams in the country despite the fact he’s not been able to enjoy the plan of the initial roster he put together.
DeVries’ son, Tucker, followed his dad from Drake to end his college career playing in the Big 12 and boost his stock for the NBA. Unfortunately for Tucker DeVries, his season has been plagued by an injury and he’s only been able to play eight games as a Mountaineer. However, as fans are speculating about how much they will ever see Tucker DeVries on the court, Darian DeVries has his team winning anyway.

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose
He’s also coaching the Big 12 Player of the Year favorite nonetheless as well. With Tucker DeVries out, Javon Small has stepped up to lead West Virginia to more big wins.
Overall, WVU has four victories over ranked teams, three of which came against teams ranked inside the top 10 at the time of the game.
And the most impressive aspect of West Virginia’s staple wins is two of them came without Tucker DeVries. Most recently, WVU beat Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse for the first time ever and then knocked off Iowa State on Jerry West Day.
Add those two big wins to a victory over No. 3 Gonzaga in the Bahamas and the 2024-25 season is already an historic one for WVU no matter how it ends. West Virginia has beaten three top-10 teams in just two other seasons in program history, 2016-17 and 2005-06.
The biggest difference between those seasons and this one is that both of those seasons were the continuation of very successful runs under legendary coaches. The 16-17 season was during a stretch of three Sweet Sixteen appearances in four years under Bob Huggins and the 05-06 season was after a run to the Elite Eight under John Beilein.
In looking at WVU’s four losses, only one sticks out as “bad” at this point. The Mountaineers did fall 86-62 to rival Pitt in their third game of the season, but have no other true blemish on their resume. Besides the loss to a now fading Pitt team, West Virginia has losses to Arizona in Big 12 play, granted that did only even out the season series between the two teams, an overtime defeat to Louisville and a loss to No. 7 Houston.
โI think our guys are giving us everything theyโve got,โ DeVries said. โThey donโt play perfect every night, but I donโt ask them to do that.โ
Even though nothing is guaranteed and WVU still has some tough games ahead, the season DeVries has already put together considering all of the circumstances stacks up with any coach in the country.
The last time a WVU basketball coach won a national Coach of the Year award was when Bob Huggins took home the Jim Phelan Award in 2015.
For a related story, WVU basketball aided by crowd, divine intervention in win over Iowa State.