WVU Basketball Goes on Team Bonding Activity Before Foreign Trip

Since team bonding is an essential part of an offseason, WVU basketball head coach Darian DeVries took his team on a group activity together.

DeVries and his Mountaineers all went bowling together on Saturday. The WVU basketball program posted videos and images of the coaches and players all having fun and enjoying spending quality time together.

Rolling deep 🎳 pic.twitter.com/Is1lRttfVh

— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) July 27, 2024

With the summer nearing an end and a foreign trip on the horizon, West Virginia opened up practice to the media last week. After practice, DeVries, star transfer addition Tucker DeVries and Javon Small spoke with the media, including WV Sports Now.

With two scholarship spots available, DeVries told the media that his staff is still looking to add players.

“We’re still very much actively recruiting,” DeVries said. “There’s some multiple players that we’re still trying to recruit and get them here by the start of school.”

And with a lot of new faces, on roster and staff, it was a first-look at what West Virginia might look like heading into the 2024-25 season under DeVries and his new coaching staff.

The team went through multiple drills and capped off practice with a 5v5 full-court scrimmage for 16 minutes. Former WVU forward Nate Adrian participated in the drills as well.

WVU F Tucker DeVries fully participated as he was fully cleared for contact last week and guard Joseph Yesufu did not participate in contact drills.

DeVries and his new staff recruited 10 new scholarship players to the roster while returning sophomore forward Ofri Naveh.

The 2024-2025 season will mark WVU head coach DeVries’ first leading the Mountaineers after building a program of consistency during his six seasons at Drake. The Bulldogs won 20-plus games in each of DeVries’ seasons at the helm, with three NCAA Tournament appearances. Drake has one March win from the play-in game vs. Wichita State in 2021. The Bulldogs returned to the tournament last season, falling to 7-seed Washington State.

Drake finished with a 28-7 record this season, going 16-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference and then winning the MVC Tournament. Drake had a top-45 offense in the country, averaging 80 points per game. The Bulldogs shot 37% from three as a team, which is 36th in the country. Drake allowed 70.4 points per contest this past season.

For a related story, WVU head coach Darian DeVries talked candidly about taking the WVU job during a podcast appearance in May.