Minnesota Basketball: 5 candidates to replace Richard Pitino as head coach

Darian DeVries

There are a lot of factors at stake in Minnesota’s coaching search and I’m sure they’ll do their best to balance those factors and find the right guy. Hiring a retread in Tubby Smith didn’t work and hiring a hot name in the coaching grid similarly failed with Pitino. If they want to hire another hot name, but one with more of a familiarity with the region, then DeVries would be an excellent choice.

DeVries played his college basketball just south of the Golden Gophers down at Northern Iowa before spending nearly two decades on the coaching staff at Creighton. His head coaching career has been an instant success with Drake these last three years. He won the regular-season title in his first season, has won at least 20 games all three years, and nabbed an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament this year. Drake’s 18-0 start and subsequent success is even more impressive when you consider that big man Liam Robbins transferred to these very Golden Gophers from DeVries’ Drake squad.

One knock on DeVries is that he may not have the head coaching experience that Minnesota is seeking. He’s appearing in just his first NCAA Tournament, but his work with Drake has been extraordinary. He’s done as much if not more than Pitino had done when he was hired, plus DeVries knows the Midwest quite well. Even if Minnesota doesn’t come calling, DeVries is a hot name in the coaching market and will continue to be these next few seasons until he gets his shot.