For DeVries, It’s Embrace the Past, Build the Future
3/28/2025 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and new coach Darian DeVries want to become consistent national title contenders. They want to return to the superpower status they enjoyed for decades under former coaches Branch McCracken and Bob Knight.
DeVries has a plan to unlock the potential in a program loaded with the resources, facilities, and fan base crucial to championship success. He won at least 25 games in each of his last four seasons at Drake, then had a 10-game turnaround in his one season at West Virginia.
While quick success is the goal, DeVries won't lock himself into specific victory numbers for next season, or the seasons to come. He insists he'll stick to the process that can deliver elite results.
"We're going to focus every day on the process of what it takes to win games," he says. "If at the end of the day we're really good at that, those things will happen. Our single priority is very narrow focused on being elite at all those little things.
"Wins and losses will work themselves out because if you can do all those little things the way you need to do them and the way I believe we can do that, then the wins are going to come."
To understand the challenge DeVries faces, consider IU was once a top-20 fixture, a perennial national and Big Ten power that thrived with dominating talent and coaching.
Then, things got complicated. It's been more than a decade since the Hoosiers were in national title contention.
DeVries was hired to restore the glory, and much like Curt Cignetti in football, he has a system and a track record that resonates with instant success.
Consistent excellence takes 12-month-a-year work and focus, DeVries says. It demands crunch-time execution that only comes from detail-oriented practices, and players rising to the opportunities.
In other words, it's the coach's job to put players in position to make plays. It's the players' responsibility to make them.
"You've got to give credit to the players," DeVries says. "A lot of times in those late games, like the execution piece and guys making plays, getting stops, all those things that hopefully from June until January when you needed it, they put in that time and effort to put themselves in a position to make those plays.
"From a practice standpoint, I believe in a very up-tempo, enthusiastic, energetic practice slot. We don't sit out there for three hours. We go as hard as we can for about an hour and a half, and as the season goes on, you cut it to 60 or 70 minutes.
"It's very detail oriented, fast-paced. I think guys get so much more out of that. They learn a lot quicker to be put in those game situations that now they don't have to think. They've done it every day. They've had to react on it and be quick on their feet, simulated by every practice that we have."
Along the way, DeVries says he will embrace IU's rich tradition while building a 21st Century program.
"You embrace everything about the past. Our history is our history, and it's a great history. Why would we not want to embrace that?
"My job is what the future looks like. We want to be a positive part of that history. We want to embrace our former players and alumni. This is their program. They built it. We want to be a big part of that as we move forward."
In many ways, college sports have become identical to pro sports with NIL, settlement money, and the transfer portal. More than 1,000 players have entered the portal since it opened on Monday, which means a lot of teams, including IU, must rebuild their rosters. Along the way, coaches often become like company CEOs.
"When you look at it, there are a lot of people underneath the head coach, from assistant coaches to operations people to managers to the players to support staff. They're all very critical parts of your success.
"It's how do we get everybody going in the same direction? We all have the same goals. How do we make everybody's path align with that?"
DeVries says it starts with the head coach.
"They've got to feed off of me and the way I act, and I interact with the people I'm around. Then, it carries over all the way on down."
DeVries describes getting everyone in sync "as a thing of beauty."
"When you see a team and how in sync it is and how connected it is, that's what I want our program to be from the top to the bottom. I want there to be a connectivity from every person who touches our program.
"That's what a good CEO does. He empowers everybody to be the best they can be. They're all striving to do that because they know they get the opportunity to be themselves and to grow within our program. That's what's exciting, especially when you're just starting a new program. Here are all these people who are going to be a part of our success."
He is convinced there will be plenty of Hoosier success.
"I believe we can do some special things here. I'm excited about what that can look like and the people that are committed to making that happen. We're going to do everything that we can from our time and efforts to make it a reality."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and new coach Darian DeVries want to become consistent national title contenders. They want to return to the superpower status they enjoyed for decades under former coaches Branch McCracken and Bob Knight.
DeVries has a plan to unlock the potential in a program loaded with the resources, facilities, and fan base crucial to championship success. He won at least 25 games in each of his last four seasons at Drake, then had a 10-game turnaround in his one season at West Virginia.
While quick success is the goal, DeVries won't lock himself into specific victory numbers for next season, or the seasons to come. He insists he'll stick to the process that can deliver elite results.
"We're going to focus every day on the process of what it takes to win games," he says. "If at the end of the day we're really good at that, those things will happen. Our single priority is very narrow focused on being elite at all those little things.
"Wins and losses will work themselves out because if you can do all those little things the way you need to do them and the way I believe we can do that, then the wins are going to come."
To understand the challenge DeVries faces, consider IU was once a top-20 fixture, a perennial national and Big Ten power that thrived with dominating talent and coaching.
Then, things got complicated. It's been more than a decade since the Hoosiers were in national title contention.
DeVries was hired to restore the glory, and much like Curt Cignetti in football, he has a system and a track record that resonates with instant success.
Consistent excellence takes 12-month-a-year work and focus, DeVries says. It demands crunch-time execution that only comes from detail-oriented practices, and players rising to the opportunities.
In other words, it's the coach's job to put players in position to make plays. It's the players' responsibility to make them.
"You've got to give credit to the players," DeVries says. "A lot of times in those late games, like the execution piece and guys making plays, getting stops, all those things that hopefully from June until January when you needed it, they put in that time and effort to put themselves in a position to make those plays.
"From a practice standpoint, I believe in a very up-tempo, enthusiastic, energetic practice slot. We don't sit out there for three hours. We go as hard as we can for about an hour and a half, and as the season goes on, you cut it to 60 or 70 minutes.
"It's very detail oriented, fast-paced. I think guys get so much more out of that. They learn a lot quicker to be put in those game situations that now they don't have to think. They've done it every day. They've had to react on it and be quick on their feet, simulated by every practice that we have."
Along the way, DeVries says he will embrace IU's rich tradition while building a 21st Century program.
"You embrace everything about the past. Our history is our history, and it's a great history. Why would we not want to embrace that?
"My job is what the future looks like. We want to be a positive part of that history. We want to embrace our former players and alumni. This is their program. They built it. We want to be a big part of that as we move forward."
In many ways, college sports have become identical to pro sports with NIL, settlement money, and the transfer portal. More than 1,000 players have entered the portal since it opened on Monday, which means a lot of teams, including IU, must rebuild their rosters. Along the way, coaches often become like company CEOs.
"When you look at it, there are a lot of people underneath the head coach, from assistant coaches to operations people to managers to the players to support staff. They're all very critical parts of your success.
"It's how do we get everybody going in the same direction? We all have the same goals. How do we make everybody's path align with that?"
DeVries says it starts with the head coach.
"They've got to feed off of me and the way I act, and I interact with the people I'm around. Then, it carries over all the way on down."
DeVries describes getting everyone in sync "as a thing of beauty."
"When you see a team and how in sync it is and how connected it is, that's what I want our program to be from the top to the bottom. I want there to be a connectivity from every person who touches our program.
"That's what a good CEO does. He empowers everybody to be the best they can be. They're all striving to do that because they know they get the opportunity to be themselves and to grow within our program. That's what's exciting, especially when you're just starting a new program. Here are all these people who are going to be a part of our success."
He is convinced there will be plenty of Hoosier success.
"I believe we can do some special things here. I'm excited about what that can look like and the people that are committed to making that happen. We're going to do everything that we can from our time and efforts to make it a reality."
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