BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 23, 2024

Darian DeVries

West Virginia Mountaineers

Media Day Press Conference

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DARIAN DeVRIES: We're just excited to get started. It's been a long process, taking over a job. We had one returning player, so getting a staff put together, getting a team put together, and now you get through summer and fall workouts and getting to that point now where you're ready to play, and we're just excited about getting started.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about travel with this new expanded league. West Virginia faces that more than any other team. How will you adapt to that? How have your players addressed that as they get ready to hit the road?

DARIAN DeVRIES: You know, for us, it's my first time, our first time in the league and having to travel. But I think overall, I think coaches, players are pretty resilient in figuring out ways to adapt and adjust their sleep schedules and travel schedules.

Then you just find out a way to make it work.

I think everybody in the league has to travel and go somewhere, and we're no different. But again, it's something as the season goes on I think our guys will adjust to as it goes.

Q. Like you already mentioned, it is your first time in the Big 12 coming over from Drake and the Missouri Valley. What are some opportunities you're excited to embark on in this new journey?

DARIAN DeVRIES: Yeah, what I'm excited about is just the opportunity to obviously coach in this league, but there's so many great venues in this league and atmospheres, including ours in Morgantown, that I'm excited about it. I know our players are excited about that, as well.

You get a chance to compete in places where the fan bases are so passionate about their teams and to compete against some of the best every single night.

That's the thing I know we're most excited about getting started with.

Q. You mentioned you have one returning player. How did you go about constructing a roster for this season with the idea that obviously you're trying to build a program there at Morgantown that can be sustainable for the long-term, but fan bases looking for immediate success this year?

DARIAN DeVRIES: Yeah, I know I told our staff the same thing. We wanted to make sure that we didn't get in a hurry just to put a roster together, that we were very selective in making sure that we were getting the type of guys that we knew fit us and how we wanted to play and how we wanted that locker room to be and the type of guys we wanted in that locker room. So we were excited about it.

We're very happy with the way it all ended up. It took a while. As you mentioned, when you have to put that many guys together in a short period of time. But great bunch of guys, work incredibly hard, they're about the right things, and excited to get a chance to coach them.

Q. One of those players you ended up getting in the portal was your son, Tucker. West Virginia was probably the favorite destination spot for him to land when you took the job, but was there any actual recruiting pitches that you threw in there, or is this kind of a son-follows-dad?

DARIAN DeVRIES: I would say for the most part he was going to come, but it was conversations we had prior to that. He obviously put a lot of faith in me and finding a spot that he felt our family could be happy, and I know he's certainly excited about this opportunity to play in front of our fans. We're super pumped to get to do this one more time together, and it's been an incredible experience for both of us.

Q. What are some of the challenges with the new NIL, and do you feel like it's harder to build out a roster or easier than it used to be?

DARIAN DeVRIES: I think the biggest thing with everything in college sports, it's changed a lot, and you just have to change with it. That's the thing that we approach it.

As rules change and the guidelines change, you just evolve with them and adapt and try to make the most of it and do the best job you can. That's what we've tried to do.