Opinion
Nespor: Indiana Would’ve Gotten Darian DeVries No Matter What
There has been a lot of debate since Darian DeVries left Morgantown on how, or if, WVU basketball could’ve kept its coach from going to Indiana.
What’s become clear in the time since the move was made official is the Hoosier really wanted DeVries, and it appears they were willing to do whatever it took to get him to Bloomington.
Indiana is making a massive financial commitment to pry DeVries out of Morgantown. Initial reports have IU playing upwards of $6 million for DeVries’s buyout, the largest ever in Indiana’s history. The details of DeVries’s contract with the Hoosiers has not been officially announced, but it is expected to be for six years and nearly $5 million annually. Indiana also owes a seven-figure separation agreement to outgoing coach Mike Woodson.
That kind of financial commitment signals there wasn’t going to be much that could turn Indiana off of DeVries. It’s unlikely a contract extension from WVU could compete with what Indiana was willing to offer. West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker said during his press conference Wednesday he thought the Mountaineers could have made a competitive counteroffer.
“From a resource perspective, we’re ready to stretch what we have,” Baker said, “but there are certainly people in college athletics who have more money.
Outside of finances, it looks like timing also wouldn’t have played a major factor. Some have suggested that had WVU made the NCAA Tournament, Indiana would have looked elsewhere to hire a coach instead of waiting for West Virginia’s tournament run to end.
Had WVU basketball made the tournament, it is likely it would have been in one of the First Four games, which were played Tuesday night. Even if the Mountaineers had won that, it’s not likely their tournament run would have lasted much longer than the first weekend anyway, and there’s no reason to believe Indiana was in so much of a hurry it wouldn’t be willing to wait for that.
“I suspect, given what’s been put out there on the commitment they’ve made to him contractually and that they’re sending us a check in excess of $6 million, they were going to talk to him,” Baker said. “The fact that we didn’t get included in the tournament probably altered the timeline.”
There’s also what DeVries wanted which, clearly, was to go to Indiana.
“My intention was to continue down that path (at WVU) and build on the progress that we made on this first year,” DeVries said during his introductory press conference at IU. “However, the opportunity came along to possibly be the head coach at Indiana, a dream job for anyone, but especially someone who grew up in the Midwest and grew up watching the old Big 8 and Big Ten basketball. The chance to lead one of the biggest brands in college basketball was something I could not pass up.”
So, while WVU wanted Darian DeVries to stay in Morgantown and was aggressive in making that happen, in reality there wasn’t much Baker and the Mountaineers could have done.
“I’m at peace that we were aggressive in trying to retain him and, ultimately, I recognize that it’s not my decision to make,” Baker said. “He gets to make that.”
For a related story, Wren Baker believes in WVU basketball brand despite Darian DeVries exit.
