Indiana University Athletics
Men's Basketball
Darian DeVries
- Title:
- Head Coach
Darian DeVries was named Indiana Men’s Basketball’s 31st head coach on March 19, 2025. The Aplington, Iowa, native arrived in Bloomington with nearly 25 years of Division I coaching experience, including seven years as a head coach of Drake (2018-24) and West Virginia (2024-25). He advanced to the NCAA Tournament three of his final four seasons with Drake.
In his lone season at West Virginia the Mountaineers improved its previous season’s win total by 10 games to an overall record of 19-13 and a 10-10 mark in Big XII games. WVU earned six Quad 1 victories, 13 wins over NET Top 100 programs, and four triumphs over ranked opponents.
West Virginia played the final 24 games of the season without two-time Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Tucker DeVries, who was lost for the season with an injury. The Mountaineers held a record of 6-2 with wins over No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 24 Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis at the time of the injury. WVU climbed as high as No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 (Week 10).
Under his guidance, senior guard Javon Small became the fourth Mountaineer in program history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native tied for the league lead with 18.5 points per game, was third in free throw percentage (88.1%), third in assists per game (5.6), fourth in 3-point percentage (35.3%), fourth in 3-point field goals per game (2.5), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.1), and 12th in steals per game (1.6).
DeVries posted a record of 150-55 (73.2 winning percentage) at Drake. His final four seasons with the Bulldogs saw the program secure 108 wins (27 wins per season) to pair with three NCAA Tournament trips. He won 70.5% (79-33) of his Missouri Valley Conference games and claimed three MVC titles. He led Drake to six of the program’s 11 20-wins in program history before leaving for West Virginia.
He inherited a program that had been to one NCAA Tournament in the previous 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 his 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. He won 20-plus games in all six seasons in Des Moines, including 25-plus victories in each of his final four seasons with the Bulldogs.
In 2023-24, DeVries led Drake to a 28-7 record, capping the season with a MVC Tournament title and the Bulldogs’ third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years. Drake’s 28 victories were its most since recording 28 in 2008.
DeVries, a two-time MVC Coach of the Year (2019 and 2021), was a finalist for the 2023-24 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, given annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball.
He led the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 and finished with a 27-8 record. Drake captured the 2023 MVC Tournament title for the first time under DeVries.
In his third year, DeVries led Drake to an 18-0 start and an AP Top 25 appearance. Despite losing two of his top players to injury, he led Drake to its first NCAA Tournament bid in 13 years, and its first NCAA Tournament win in 50 years over Wichita State. He was named MVC Coach of the Year for the second time in three years. Drake finished the season with a 26-5 record.
DeVries made history in his second season at Drake, becoming the first coach to lead an eight seed to a win over the top seed in the MVC Tournament, downing Northern Iowa, 77-56. The 2020 postseason was canceled after the UNI victory due to COVID-19. His Bulldogs won 20 games, marking the first time since 1971 the program had won 20-or-more games in consecutive seasons.
In his first season as head coach at Drake, DeVries led the Bulldogs to a 24-10 record after inheriting a team with the second-fewest returning letterwinners in the nation. He led the Bulldogs to their first regular season MVC title since 2008 and the program’s 12th all-time postseason appearance, despite losing a potential MVC Player of the Year candidate to a season-ending knee injury in the first game of conference play. In his first season as a head coach, he was named MVC Coach of the Year and received the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award.
Prior to Drake, DeVries was an assistant coach at Creighton for 17 years under Greg McDermott and Dana Altman. He joined Creighton as a graduate manager and spent 20 years at Creighton. During his time there, he was part of 19 postseason appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament bids. Creighton was 460-211 overall and 231-129 in conference games during DeVries’ tenure at Creighton.
DeVries is a 1998 graduate of Northern Iowa, where he played for coach Eldon Miller and ranks 31st all-time in career scoring with 1,084 points. He was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection and two-time team captain. DeVries led the Panthers in 3-point shooting for three seasons and converted on 44 percent of his attempts as a senior with 3.1 assists per game.
A native of Aplington, Iowa, DeVries attended Aplington-Parkersburg High and was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Hall of Fame in 2015.
He is the oldest of five siblings. His brother, Jared, was an All-American on the Iowa football team and played for the Detroit Lions for 12 seasons. Another brother, Dusty, also played football at Iowa, while his youngest brother, Jay, played football at Wartburg College. His sister, Jodi, was an All-MVC Second-Team selection in volleyball at Northern Iowa.
DeVries and his wife, Ashley, have a son, Tucker, and a daughter, Tatum. Tucker recently became the ninth-ever player and first since Doug McDermott to win the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year trophy in back-to-back seasons while playing at Drake. He was also named an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2023-24.
In his lone season at West Virginia the Mountaineers improved its previous season’s win total by 10 games to an overall record of 19-13 and a 10-10 mark in Big XII games. WVU earned six Quad 1 victories, 13 wins over NET Top 100 programs, and four triumphs over ranked opponents.
West Virginia played the final 24 games of the season without two-time Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Tucker DeVries, who was lost for the season with an injury. The Mountaineers held a record of 6-2 with wins over No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 24 Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis at the time of the injury. WVU climbed as high as No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 (Week 10).
Under his guidance, senior guard Javon Small became the fourth Mountaineer in program history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native tied for the league lead with 18.5 points per game, was third in free throw percentage (88.1%), third in assists per game (5.6), fourth in 3-point percentage (35.3%), fourth in 3-point field goals per game (2.5), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.1), and 12th in steals per game (1.6).
DeVries posted a record of 150-55 (73.2 winning percentage) at Drake. His final four seasons with the Bulldogs saw the program secure 108 wins (27 wins per season) to pair with three NCAA Tournament trips. He won 70.5% (79-33) of his Missouri Valley Conference games and claimed three MVC titles. He led Drake to six of the program’s 11 20-wins in program history before leaving for West Virginia.
He inherited a program that had been to one NCAA Tournament in the previous 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 his 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. He won 20-plus games in all six seasons in Des Moines, including 25-plus victories in each of his final four seasons with the Bulldogs.
In 2023-24, DeVries led Drake to a 28-7 record, capping the season with a MVC Tournament title and the Bulldogs’ third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years. Drake’s 28 victories were its most since recording 28 in 2008.
DeVries, a two-time MVC Coach of the Year (2019 and 2021), was a finalist for the 2023-24 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, given annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball.
He led the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 and finished with a 27-8 record. Drake captured the 2023 MVC Tournament title for the first time under DeVries.
In his third year, DeVries led Drake to an 18-0 start and an AP Top 25 appearance. Despite losing two of his top players to injury, he led Drake to its first NCAA Tournament bid in 13 years, and its first NCAA Tournament win in 50 years over Wichita State. He was named MVC Coach of the Year for the second time in three years. Drake finished the season with a 26-5 record.
DeVries made history in his second season at Drake, becoming the first coach to lead an eight seed to a win over the top seed in the MVC Tournament, downing Northern Iowa, 77-56. The 2020 postseason was canceled after the UNI victory due to COVID-19. His Bulldogs won 20 games, marking the first time since 1971 the program had won 20-or-more games in consecutive seasons.
In his first season as head coach at Drake, DeVries led the Bulldogs to a 24-10 record after inheriting a team with the second-fewest returning letterwinners in the nation. He led the Bulldogs to their first regular season MVC title since 2008 and the program’s 12th all-time postseason appearance, despite losing a potential MVC Player of the Year candidate to a season-ending knee injury in the first game of conference play. In his first season as a head coach, he was named MVC Coach of the Year and received the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award.
Prior to Drake, DeVries was an assistant coach at Creighton for 17 years under Greg McDermott and Dana Altman. He joined Creighton as a graduate manager and spent 20 years at Creighton. During his time there, he was part of 19 postseason appearances and 12 NCAA Tournament bids. Creighton was 460-211 overall and 231-129 in conference games during DeVries’ tenure at Creighton.
DeVries is a 1998 graduate of Northern Iowa, where he played for coach Eldon Miller and ranks 31st all-time in career scoring with 1,084 points. He was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection and two-time team captain. DeVries led the Panthers in 3-point shooting for three seasons and converted on 44 percent of his attempts as a senior with 3.1 assists per game.
A native of Aplington, Iowa, DeVries attended Aplington-Parkersburg High and was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Hall of Fame in 2015.
He is the oldest of five siblings. His brother, Jared, was an All-American on the Iowa football team and played for the Detroit Lions for 12 seasons. Another brother, Dusty, also played football at Iowa, while his youngest brother, Jay, played football at Wartburg College. His sister, Jodi, was an All-MVC Second-Team selection in volleyball at Northern Iowa.
DeVries and his wife, Ashley, have a son, Tucker, and a daughter, Tatum. Tucker recently became the ninth-ever player and first since Doug McDermott to win the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year trophy in back-to-back seasons while playing at Drake. He was also named an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2023-24.
| DeVRIES' CAREER RECORD | ||||
| Year | School | Record (Conference) | Conference Tournament | Postseason |
| 2018-19 | Drake | 24-10 (12-6) | MVC: Semifinal | CIT: First Round |
| 2019-20 | Drake | 20-14 (8-10) | MVC: Semifinal | canceled (COVID-19) |
| 2020-21 | Drake | 26-5 (15-3) | MVC: Runner-Up | NCAA: Round of 64 |
| 2021-22 | Drake | 25-11 (13-5) | MVC: Runner-Up | CBI: Quarterfinals |
| 2022-23 | Drake | 27-8 (13-5) | MVC: Champions | NCAA: Round of 64 |
| 2023-24 | Drake | 28-7 (16-4) | MVC: Champions | NCAA: Round of 64 |
| 2024-25 | West Virginia | 19-13 (10-10) | Big XII: Second Round | |
| Career Record | 169-68 (89-43) | |||
FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 9 (UCLA)
Wednesday, October 22
FB: Carter Smith Media Availability (10/21/25)
Tuesday, October 21
FB: Stephen Daley Media Availability (10/21/25)
Tuesday, October 21
FB: Omar Cooper Jr. Media Availability (10/21/25)
Tuesday, October 21
