NCAA Basketball: Early breakout stars to watch for 2022-23 season
By Shea Irish
Tucker DeVries
The Drake Bulldogs got a good one in the 2021 recruiting class. It wasn’t hard to convince him to come to the Des Moines, IA school either. That’s because his father, Darian DeVries, is the head coach of the Bulldogs program.
A similar story to the situation of Doug McDermott’s playing time in Creighton, Tucker DeVries might just be on his way to becoming the next legendary Missouri Valley Conference player to suit up for his father.
The 2022 Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year led Drake with 13.9 PPG and made 75 3-pointers on the season. He isn’t shy either, extending his range far past the 3-point line, sometimes all the way out to the beginning of the center court logo.
He certainly has the green light at all times, and for good reason. The 6’7″ bucket getter dropped 24 points on Loyola Chicago in a February road win. He also scored 23 points, including game-winning free throws in the final seconds, to knock off Missouri State in the MVC Tournament Semifinals. DeVries has definitely shown he isn’t scared of the big moment.
With 502 points in his freshman campaign, he is already on pace to break Drake’s all-time scoring record if he sticks around for four seasons. In his sophomore season, look for him to ascend his scoring average into the 20+ PPG range, and have the Bulldogs knocking on the door of an NCAA Tournament appearance.