Drake and MVC star guard Tucker DeVries starring and still standing
Looming accomplishments for DeVries
By the end of the season, DeVries has a legitimate shot at becoming Drake’s second, all-time leading scorer. He is currently eighth and is roughly 300 points from that second spot. He passed Penn earlier this year and is just two spots away from eclipsing Wilkins’ 1,565 points in the seventh spot.
High on his priority lists are winning a regular season conference title and getting back to and doing some winning in the NCAA Tournament. He has indicated that he’d like to stay at Drake next season and fulfill his four-years playing at Drake and for his father.
“If you leave, you never get those years back,” said Tucker DeVries. “I want to be able to experience these years with him. I’m looking forward to two more years and to see where this can take us. I enjoy where I’m at and what I’m doing.”
After this sensational season, it would take great restraint to continue to be Drake’s last man standing from his father’s earliest recruiting classes. There were 16 NBA scouts at his recent game against Belmont and those scouts will continue to come around the 6’7, ball-handling, three-point shooting, team-first star.
The Valley has sent a player to the NBA in back-to-back drafts. Northern Iowa’s A.J. Green left after his junior season in 2022 and Belmont’s Ben Sheppard could have returned for a covid year, but left for the NBA last summer. Green, whose father Kyle had been an assistant with UNI, has bounced between the G-League and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The DeVries father/son duo watched Greg and Doug McDermott navigate a similar situation. Darian was an assistant on the Creighton staff and watched as Greg not only coached his son and beheld the thought processes of Doug as he stayed with the Bluejays after an all-American season to become the national player of the year the next year.
Next. Latest top-25 power rankings. Latest top-25 power rankings. dark
Tucker DeVries has unique skills and a unique mindset and could be back again next year. For now, this last man standing is standing large in the Missouri Valley Conference.