Now even more of a misnomer, the Big Ten has swelled to 18 schools and there’s intriguing basketball from this conference on a regular basis. This league has had a long eventful history of basketball prowess, while a few legendary coaches still roam the sidelines. Not everyone has been so blessed, as four schools were forced into head coaching searches this offseason.
Maryland lured Buzz Williams to replace Kevin Willard and that could be a sneaky good hire, but the other moves all shared a bizarre link. Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota each found their next coaches in former head coaches at Drake. Ben Johnson (Iowa) and Niko Medved (Minnesota) spent just a year each with those Bulldogs but we’re interested in the man who really built that program into a mid-major power.
Darian DeVries grew around the MVC, playing at Northern Iowa before spending two decades on staff at Creighton. His first head coaching gig even came in the league with Drake and it was quite a positive stint. His six years saw the Bulldogs win at least 20 games each season including three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
A masterful stint following some rough years earlier in the decade came to an end in 2024 when he took the West Virginia job. His work with the Mountaineers would have to be just as efficient, inheriting a program struggling after Bob Huggins’ dismissal. His first and only season in Morgantown wasn’t half bad, winning 19 games despite dealing with injuries, including losing his son Tucker for a large portion of the season.
Initially, many expected DeVries to stay at West Virginia for several years but opportunity came calling this offseason. He takes over a prestigious Indiana program that’s looking to reclaim national prominence that the program hasn’t experienced in over a decade. The Hoosiers struggled mightily under Archie Miller and failed to reach their potential most recently under Mike Woodson but are throwing their trust into DeVries’ leadership.
When the dust settles you can certainly argue that all four of these Big Ten programs filled their openings with great coaches, but we’re honing in on DeVries as the best of the bunch. It’s not just that he lands in the most prestigious program, his experience in rebuilding programs has been on display and his son (among other recent commitments) could have Indiana knocking on relevancy just a few months from now.