West Virginia HC Darian DeVries Not a Candidate for Iowa Job

Despite the rumors, West Virginia’s Darian DeVries is not a true candidate for the Iowa job, and that’s now according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A day after some online chatter suggests he was in Iowa interviewing, Thamel makes it known DeVries is not going to take over the Hawkeyes.

Iowa parted ways with 15-year head coach Fran McCaffery last week. McCaffery’s 297 wins are the most in Iowa basketball history. Iowa went 17-16 this season, losing in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. Following a 12-4 start, Iowa lost 11 of its next 14 games.

Sources: West Virginia coach Darian DeVries is not a candidate for the Iowa job. pic.twitter.com/yuRiOoAIsq

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 18, 2025

Although he has no ties to the university, DeVries is an Iowa native and coached for six seasons in the state at Drake.

DeVries led the Mountaineers to a surprising 19-win season with marquee wins over three top-10 opponents, but WVU was controversially left out of the NCAA Tournament.

Poaching DeVreis from the Mountaineers would take a large financial commitment from Iowa. USA Today reports that Iowa will owe McCaffery a buyout of $4.2 million.

WVU signed DeVries to a five-year, $15 million contract last offseason. DeVries’s contract includes a buyout clause should he leave for another job before April 30, 2028. The clause stipulates that DeVries would owe WVU 37.5% of his remaining contract. The buyout amount for DeVries to leave this offseason would be approximately $4.575 million.

The cost for Iowa to pay both McCaffery’s and DeVries’s buyouts would be upwards of $8 million, in addition to the new contract it would need to give DeVries.

Comparing WVU history to Iowa history

Historically speaking, there’s an argument the two programs are a wash, although WVU has a significant edge in recent decades.

West Virginia has 31 NCAA Tournament appearances (about to be 32), has advanced to the Sweet 16 on 11 occasions, the Elite Eight three times and made a pair of Final Fours. In addition to the NCAA Tournament history, WVU has won 13 conference tournaments and claims a national championship from the 1942 season.

As for Iowa, the Hawkeyes have made the NCAA Tournament 29 times, has eight Sweet 16s, four Elite Eights and three Final Fours, granted their last Final Four came in 1987. Iowa has only won a conference tournament three times and has no claim on a national title year.

In fact, while McCaffery enjoyed some success and is Iowa’s all-time wins leader, the program has not advanced to even a Sweet 16 this century – their last coming in 1999.

WVU also has the clear edge in legendary figures and even relevant alumni names still active in the sport, something that can matter in recruiting.

For a related story, Mike Asti explained the only way Darian DeVries would leave WVU for Iowa.