Jeff Bolzero
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Jeff Bolzero
ESPN Staff Writer Basketball Recruit Insider. He joined ESPN in 2014. Graduated from the University of Delaware. March 18, 2025, 05:49 PM ET
Indiana has hired West Virginia’s Daryan DeBreeze as the new head coach of the men’s basketball program, the school announced Tuesday.
Devries will be awarded a six-year contract with the school, sources told ESPN.
Devries joins the Hoosiers after only spending one season with the climber. He was hired last March to replace interim head coach Josh Eilat, who took over Bob Huggins after resigning in June 2023. In his only season at the helm, DeBrees led West Virginia to a 19-13 record, finishing 10-10 before the climber was selected on Sunday.
“This is definitely one of America’s top jobs,” DeBrees said in a statement. “As someone who grew up in the Midwest who loves basketball games, I have always admired the IU basketball program for championship-level success, tradition and fan support. I have a passion for being successful at a very high level, both within the Big Ten and at the NCAA Tournament.
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DeBrees signed a five-year contract when he was hired in West Virginia. The total acquisition is expected to cost $4.67 million from the basketball contract, along with other costs, including the acquisition from Drake paid by WVU and other costs incurred from employment.
Before taking over at Morgantown, Devries served as head coach for Drake for six seasons, leading the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances in their final four seasons. He went 150-55 with Drake, winning at least 20 games each season. The Bulldogs won the Missouri Valley regular season championship in 2019 and conference tournament titles in 2023 and 2024.
Drake won his first four games in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, losing last year to 2023 and to Miami, Washington State in the first round.
“We went on this coaching search with some very specific things we were looking for in our next head coach. Darian has met our standards on paper and often appeared as someone who has surpassed our standards,” athletic director Scott Dorson added in a school statement. “If we had the opportunity to talk to him, we knew we had the right people. Darian has plans to build a championship culture that can compete at the highest level on a yearly basis.
DeBrees spent 20 seasons on the Clayton staff before becoming head coach, including 17 years as an assistant coach under Dana Altman and Greg McDermott.
In Indiana, he replaced Mike Woodson, who announced in early February that he would be resigning at the end of his fourth season at Bloomington. Former Indiana star, Woodson led the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons, but has dealt with speculation surrounding his future for most of the past two seasons. Indiana missed the NCAA tournament in both years and was selected as one of the first four teams left from the field this year.
Devries takes over programs that desperately need consistent success. The Hoosiers, the best program of all time in college basketball and one of the five national championships, advanced just three times in 2002, just three times past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
DeBrees’ son Tucker is at the heart of many of DeBrees’ head coaching successes, chasing West Virginia since winning the Missouri Valley Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024. He missed the rest of the campaign with an upper body injury after playing just eight games for the climber this season. The school plans to apply for a medical redshirt. This will allow you to be eligible for another year in Indiana.
