Drake Basketball: 3 reasons why Bulldogs can advance in 2023 NCAA Tournament

1. One of the top head coaches in the NCAA Tournament

Darian DeVries is a winner. Pure and simple, this guy doesn’t get outcoached, out-thought, or confused. His coaching staff’s attention to detail is second to none, and his players love to play for him.

During his twenty years on the Creighton staff, the Bluejays were amazingly successful. DeVries helped Creighton to 19 postseason appearances and twelve NCAA Tournament appearances. While working for both Dana Altman and Greg McDermott, Creighton averaged 23 wins per season.

DeVries’ 122-47 record at Drake (.722) is a product of five straight, twenty-win seasons. Drake had accumulated five such seasons in its entire competitive history before DeVries arrived. It is clear from his time at Creighton and more recently at Drake that he is a proven winner.

Since taking the Drake reins, the Bulldogs have won with ‘bigs’ like Nick McGlynn and Liam Robbins, or with a waves of perimeter players like Nick Norton, the Murphy twins and current guards Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins. Now they are winning with their most balanced team.

Outstanding guard play from Wilkins and Penn also makes room for ‘Swiss-Army-Knife’ Garrett Sturtz and the Valley’s Player of the Year, Tucker DeVries. 6’10 senior center Darnell Brodie brings the thunder down low for this very well-balanced team.

DeVries knows how to match his players and his schemes against his opposition as well as anyone in the game. During the championship game, he played the 6’3 Schurtz against the Valley’s best big man, Rienk Mast, and completely neutralized the Bradley star. While the Bulldogs are shorter than most opponents the head coach knows when to post his smaller players down low to create other types of mismatches.

This is the first March of DeVries’ career that he’s had a healthy team in March. As a master tactician, he will know how to use each of his players to the fullest.