IU makes it official: Darian DeVries is the men’s basketball program’s 31st head coach

Darian DeVries Named 31st Head Coach of IU Men’s Basketball Program

Bloomington, Ind. – IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson has hired former West Virginia and Drake Coach Darian DeVries as the new head coach of the IU Men’s Basketball program.

The 49-year-old DeVries comes to Bloomington with 24 years of Division I coaching experience, including the last seven as a highly-successful head coach at Drake (2019-24) and West Virginia (2025). His Drake and West Virginia teams went a combined 169-68 (71.3%) overall and 89-43 (67.4%) in conference play, and won three conference championships (one regular season, two postseason) along the way.

“We went into this coaching search with some very specific things we were looking for in our next head coach, and Darian emerged as someone who, on paper, met and often exceeded our criteria,” Dolson said. “Once we had a chance to talk to him, we knew we had the right person. Darian has a plan for building a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a year-in, year-out basis. He has extensive D-1 coaching experience that includes 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach or as an assistant.  This past season at West Virginia, he inherited a last-place Big 12 team with no significant contributors returning, and managed to more than double its win total despite a pair of significant season-ending injuries. Finally, he is passionate about the opportunity to lead our program. We are excited to welcome Darian and the entire DeVries family to our Hoosier family.”

“This is unquestionably one of the top jobs in America. As someone who grew up in the Midwest loving the game of basketball, I’ve always admired the IU Basketball program for its championship-level success, tradition, and fan support,” DeVries said. “There’s a passion to succeed at the very highest levels both within the Big Ten and in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a desire that as a coach I share. On top of that, the alignment is there on a department and university level to make that happen.  I’m excited for this opportunity and am ready to work relentlessly to assemble a staff and a roster that competes for championships.”

“As President of IU, it is my expectation that our university strives for greatness in everything we do from academics to athletics,” IU President Pamela Whitten said. “Darian has demonstrated that he embraces that elite standard. In fact, he has a well-established track record of elevating programs to new levels of success. This is a great day for IU Men’s Basketball and Indiana University.”

At each of his first two head coaching stops, DeVries quickly turned around programs mired in significant short and/or long-term struggles on the basketball court.  DeVries’ first head coaching opportunity came at Drake in 2018, where he inherited a program that had been to one NCAA Tournament in the last 47 years, had five 20-win seasons in its 112-year history, and was a combined 40-87 (31.5%) in the six years prior to DeVries’ arrival. He immediately turned the Missouri Valley Conference program’s fortunes around, going 24-10 overall in year one and tying for the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. DeVries earned conference coach of the year honors for his performance, the first of his two MVC Coach of the Year accolades.

He continued to raise the bar at the Des Moines, Iowa, school in each of his final five seasons. His Drake teams won at least 20 games each year, including 25 or more in each of his final four seasons. During those final four seasons at Drake the Bulldogs were one of only three programs in Division I to win 25+ games each season along with Houston and Gonzaga. His teams won MVC postseason tournament championships in his final two seasons, led the league in scoring offense twice, and he finished his Drake career with a 150-55 record (73.1%). Compared to the six years before his arrival, DeVries’ six-year win percentage represented a remarkable 39.1% improvement, which stands up remarkably well against other high-profile coaches such as Alabama’s Nate Oats (+9.2% four-year win percentage improvement while at Buffalo), Michigan’s Dusty May (+22.3% four-year win percentage improvement at Florida Atlantic), and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey (+18.7% three-year win percentage improvement at Charleston).

In addition to his personal successes and accolades, DeVries’ Bulldog players were highly decorated as well. He had four players combine to earn six first-team All-MVC honors. That list includes 2019 MVC Defensive Player of the Year Nick McGlynn; two-time first-team All-MVC guard Roman Penn; and 2023 and 2024 MVC Player of the Year and 2022 MVC Freshman of the Year Tucker DeVries, Darian’s son.

Darian’s extended run of success at Drake attracted the attention of West Virginia, which brought him to Morgantown, W.Va, last spring to resurrect the fortunes of a Mountaineer program that went 9-23 in 2023-24 and finished last in the Big 12. DeVries inherited a roster that returned only two players and 2.8 percent of its scoring from 2023-24 and was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 in the league’s preseason poll.  But the Mountaineers’ first-year coach enjoyed tremendous success in the transfer portal (including 2024-25 first-team All-Big 12 honoree Jovan Small from Oklahoma State and All-Big 12 Defensive Team member Sencire Harris from Illinois) and orchestrated one of the nation’s most impressive turnarounds.

West Virginia more than doubled its previous season’s win total, going 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the Big 12. The Mountaineers earned a series of signature victories this season, including three wins over top-10 teams (#2 Iowa State, #3 Gonzaga and #7 Kansas). Those successes came despite the extended absences of multiple players expected to play critical roles in the team’s fortunes this season, including Tucker DeVries (14.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 47.3% 3 pt. shooting in 2024-25), who missed all but eight games due to a shoulder injury.

While the Mountaineers were enjoying a resurgence on the court, DeVries also had success re-establishing the program as a recruiting force. West Virginia signed a three-person class last fall that was ranked No. 23 nationally and included two top-75 players according to 247Sports.

A native of Aplington, Iowa, DeVries got his coaching start at Creighton, where he spent 20 years as a member of the Bluejays’ staff (including the final 17 as an assistant coach) under Dana Altman and Greg McDermott. Creighton went a combined 460-211 during his 20 seasons and earned 19 postseason berths (including 12 NCAA trips).

Darian joined the Creighton staff in 1998 shortly after concluding a successful college player career at the University of Northern Iowa. A 1998 UNI graduate in elementary education, DeVries scored 1,084 points while playing for long-time UNI Coach Eldon Miller.

Darian and his wife, Ashley, have one son, Tucker (22), and a daughter, Tatum (16).