‘Man of Action’ – DeVries Builds for Maximum Basketball Impact
6/3/2025 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When Darian DeVries isn't draining every shot imaginable thanks to the magic surrounding Indiana basketball, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and the return of a certain bison mascot (see the Hoosier the Mascot videos for insight), he's building a program rich in title-winning possibilities.
A couple of months into his Hoosier head coaching tenure after successful runs at Drake and West Virginia and prospects are promising with a winning system (a seven-year career record of 169-68 with three NCAA tourney appearances) and players such as Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, Tayton Conerway, and Jasai Miller well suited for 21st Century thrive-beyond-the-3-point-arc reality.
DeVries highlighted that and more during recent media availability before the annual athletic department fundraiser at Huber's Orchard and Winery in southeastern Indiana.
"I like the way the roster came together," he says. "I think we have great depth in shooting, which is a priority for us. For the most part, we have good positional size at a lot of the spots. At the center, we're a little smaller, but every other spot we have some great size."
Frontcourt size comes from the 6-10 Bailey, a Davidson transfer who shot 41.5% from 3-point range last season, plus a pair of 6-8 players in Sam Alexis from Florida and Josh Harris from North Florida.
"Overall, we've got great depth," DeVries says. "I like the way the pieces will connect together. They can complement each other pretty well."
That's big news for a fan base yearning for a return to championship glory. DeVries is all in.
"This fan base is very passionate about winning. They care about it. They want to win. We want to win. We're all in alignment there.
"That's a good thing. I always tell people you want a fan base that is very passionate about their team and that they care. That's what we have. We're excited to have them all be a part of that. We have those same expectations. We're going to do everything we can to live up to those."
IU football head coach Curt Cignetti, who turned the Hoosiers into an 11-2 playoff team during his debut season last year, is optimistic DeVries will do just that.
"He's a man of action; he doesn't say a lot," Cignetti says. "He's got a plan. He'll get it done. He's going to do well here. Just give him time. This stuff takes time. You are going to see results."
Results will get a big boost from 6-7 guard Tucker DeVries, the coach's son, who is coming off shoulder surgery that limited him to eight games last season at West Virginia.
The former two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year while at Drake has averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists during his college career.
"We're getting closer," Darian DeVries says of his son's return to action. "We're waiting for that final clearance for the full contact. He's able to do all the shooting drill work and lifting, modified a little bit.
"I think by the time we get rolling here, we should be fully cleared for full contact and be good to go."
DeVries has rebuilt the roster with 11 scholarship players and seeks to add two more. Former Hoosiers Luke Goode and Anthony Leal are seeking NCAA waivers for a final college season.
Goode averaged 9.1 points with a team-leading 62 3-pointers last season, his first at IU after three years at Illinois. He started 16 of 32 games for the Hoosiers.
Leal averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds with a 48-to-17 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. He ranked second on the team with 28 steals.
DeVries says the NCAA is still processing their waivers along with others around the country.
"I think there's a little bit of a backup. We don't have a lot of clarity on when those decisions will be made. The sooner the better, but that's out of our control."
DeVries says the Hoosiers have options to fill those spots if Goode and Leal don't receive waivers.
"We're trying to see where this process plays out for them and then make decisions based off that.
"We're still actively recruiting to see if there's something that fits and makes sense. We can go a lot of different directions with that. We'll see how that plays out."
DeVries' new staff includes Nick Norton (a former assistant under DeVries at West Virginia and Drake), Kenny Johnson (a former IU assistant under Tom Crean who has coached at Georgetown, Louisville, and LaSalle), Drew Adams (who spent two years on Crean's Indiana staff before coaching at New Mexico, Bradley, and Cincinnati) and Rod Clark (who has coached at Tennessee, Austin Peay, and Illinois-Chicago).
"As you're putting together a staff," DeVries says, "you make sure you get a lot of different areas covered on the floor, off the floor, recruiting regions of the country, experience, and youthfulness. There are a lot of things that go with it.
"It's just like your team. You want to make sure they complement one another and complement maybe my strengths or weaknesses. Then it's vice versa with everybody. I love the staff that we have right now. We're looking forward to getting on the floor and working."
IU gets an early chance to build team chemistry and accelerate adjustment to DeVries' offensive and defensive systems with its August trip to Puerto Rico.
The Hoosiers will play three games in seven days from Aug. 5-12. They will open with a Puerto Rican All-Star team before playing a pair of contests against Mega Superbet, a Serbian pro club, that has produced 16 NBA players, highlighted by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
"The nice part is we get those 10 extra practices," DeVries says. "We can spread it out and do maybe one a week where we can get some extra film study in and do some install. It takes a little more time that you don't have when you only have the four hours a week (allowed during the summer), so that's the way we'll try to utilize that the most.
"Then you get those game opportunities, but more importantly, just some time to spend together. That's important when you've got a new group and are trying to build that cohesiveness on and off the floor. It's a terrific time for us to do that."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When Darian DeVries isn't draining every shot imaginable thanks to the magic surrounding Indiana basketball, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and the return of a certain bison mascot (see the Hoosier the Mascot videos for insight), he's building a program rich in title-winning possibilities.
A couple of months into his Hoosier head coaching tenure after successful runs at Drake and West Virginia and prospects are promising with a winning system (a seven-year career record of 169-68 with three NCAA tourney appearances) and players such as Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, Tayton Conerway, and Jasai Miller well suited for 21st Century thrive-beyond-the-3-point-arc reality.
DeVries highlighted that and more during recent media availability before the annual athletic department fundraiser at Huber's Orchard and Winery in southeastern Indiana.
"I like the way the roster came together," he says. "I think we have great depth in shooting, which is a priority for us. For the most part, we have good positional size at a lot of the spots. At the center, we're a little smaller, but every other spot we have some great size."
Frontcourt size comes from the 6-10 Bailey, a Davidson transfer who shot 41.5% from 3-point range last season, plus a pair of 6-8 players in Sam Alexis from Florida and Josh Harris from North Florida.
"Overall, we've got great depth," DeVries says. "I like the way the pieces will connect together. They can complement each other pretty well."
That's big news for a fan base yearning for a return to championship glory. DeVries is all in.
"This fan base is very passionate about winning. They care about it. They want to win. We want to win. We're all in alignment there.
"That's a good thing. I always tell people you want a fan base that is very passionate about their team and that they care. That's what we have. We're excited to have them all be a part of that. We have those same expectations. We're going to do everything we can to live up to those."
IU football head coach Curt Cignetti, who turned the Hoosiers into an 11-2 playoff team during his debut season last year, is optimistic DeVries will do just that.
"He's a man of action; he doesn't say a lot," Cignetti says. "He's got a plan. He'll get it done. He's going to do well here. Just give him time. This stuff takes time. You are going to see results."
Results will get a big boost from 6-7 guard Tucker DeVries, the coach's son, who is coming off shoulder surgery that limited him to eight games last season at West Virginia.
The former two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year while at Drake has averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists during his college career.
"We're getting closer," Darian DeVries says of his son's return to action. "We're waiting for that final clearance for the full contact. He's able to do all the shooting drill work and lifting, modified a little bit.
"I think by the time we get rolling here, we should be fully cleared for full contact and be good to go."
DeVries has rebuilt the roster with 11 scholarship players and seeks to add two more. Former Hoosiers Luke Goode and Anthony Leal are seeking NCAA waivers for a final college season.
Goode averaged 9.1 points with a team-leading 62 3-pointers last season, his first at IU after three years at Illinois. He started 16 of 32 games for the Hoosiers.
Leal averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds with a 48-to-17 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. He ranked second on the team with 28 steals.
DeVries says the NCAA is still processing their waivers along with others around the country.
"I think there's a little bit of a backup. We don't have a lot of clarity on when those decisions will be made. The sooner the better, but that's out of our control."
DeVries says the Hoosiers have options to fill those spots if Goode and Leal don't receive waivers.
"We're trying to see where this process plays out for them and then make decisions based off that.
"We're still actively recruiting to see if there's something that fits and makes sense. We can go a lot of different directions with that. We'll see how that plays out."
DeVries' new staff includes Nick Norton (a former assistant under DeVries at West Virginia and Drake), Kenny Johnson (a former IU assistant under Tom Crean who has coached at Georgetown, Louisville, and LaSalle), Drew Adams (who spent two years on Crean's Indiana staff before coaching at New Mexico, Bradley, and Cincinnati) and Rod Clark (who has coached at Tennessee, Austin Peay, and Illinois-Chicago).
"As you're putting together a staff," DeVries says, "you make sure you get a lot of different areas covered on the floor, off the floor, recruiting regions of the country, experience, and youthfulness. There are a lot of things that go with it.
"It's just like your team. You want to make sure they complement one another and complement maybe my strengths or weaknesses. Then it's vice versa with everybody. I love the staff that we have right now. We're looking forward to getting on the floor and working."
IU gets an early chance to build team chemistry and accelerate adjustment to DeVries' offensive and defensive systems with its August trip to Puerto Rico.
The Hoosiers will play three games in seven days from Aug. 5-12. They will open with a Puerto Rican All-Star team before playing a pair of contests against Mega Superbet, a Serbian pro club, that has produced 16 NBA players, highlighted by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
"The nice part is we get those 10 extra practices," DeVries says. "We can spread it out and do maybe one a week where we can get some extra film study in and do some install. It takes a little more time that you don't have when you only have the four hours a week (allowed during the summer), so that's the way we'll try to utilize that the most.
"Then you get those game opportunities, but more importantly, just some time to spend together. That's important when you've got a new group and are trying to build that cohesiveness on and off the floor. It's a terrific time for us to do that."
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