DeVries first question was directed towards his shoulder, asking how his rehab went and how he feels. “Shoulder feels good… most of it now is just getting back into game shape and honestly, even practice shape.
When asked how he’s adjusted to West Virginia, DeVries says it’s been good. “Just being able to spend time with (the team) and kind of enjoy Morgantown together has been a blast.” He mentioned it’s definitely different than his previous homes in Nebraska and Iowa, but he says the change of scenery has been “cool” and the people in Morgantown been “amazing and very supportive”.
DeVries was then asked about what he sees differently between the competition he’s used to playing and the Big 12 conference. “The biggest difference is size, obviously… as soon as you walk in the gym you look at a Big 12 team and then you look at a (Missouri) Valley (conference) team, the size is different, especially at the five position. But I think style of play, it’s not crazy different. I think the Valley is very similar to the Big 12 in style of play.” He also mentioned that the MVC and Big 12 share referees, so games are officiated in the same way. DeVries also agreed that there’s more speed and quickness in the Big 12.
DeVries was asked what he’s telling his teammates about his father’s coaching system, since he knows it better than likely anyone else on or with the team. “There’s honestly not a lot of guys that know exactly what he wants… I also see it from the players perspective a little bit, and I see it from his perspective a little bit of just knowing what he wants, so I’m trying to be that, you know, voice of maybe seeing both sides and trying to help. And honestly… you know he’s pretty open-minded to always being creative and new ideas.” DeVries also says if his teammates have a question that they don’t really want to ask his father, they can always come to him instead.
DeVries was also asked jokingly that when he’s nominated to talk to the coach about if the team is being worked to hard, if he would also go to his mother. “I think we’d be running more,” he replied with a smile.
When asked about the pros and cons of playing for his father, Tucker mentioned the benefit of being able to experience the journey together. “Probably five, ten years from now you’ll look back at it and realize how special it is.” He went on to say how this is the first year where he’s realizing how fast everything is going. “I feel like it was just yesterday, walking in as a freshman… it goes by quick, and this is it. But being able to experience it together and experience all this, and I know we’re both really excited for my final year to be here.”
For the struggles, Tucker mentioned the expectations levied onto him. “There’s a lot of accountability to bringing it every day. His expectations, my expectations, the outside’s expectations are all higher from that point because you’re going to get judged a little differently than probably everybody else.”
DeVries was asked soon after if he thought it was harder to play for your dad or to coach your son. “I don’t know, that’d be a tough one,” the son replied with a smirk. “I think we both do a fairly good job of trying to keep it as normal as possible.”
DeVries also fielded a question about how much he and his dad would talk about basketball growing up. “I mean, we obviously had discussions outside of basketball, but we talked about basketball a lot. I think my mom would even get annoyed that all the dinner table conversation, (it was all) basketball. But it was cool to kind of be involved and learn, especially when I got to high school and he became a head coach .. my aspirations whenever I’m done playing is to get into the coaching profession.” He also mentioned that their relationship made the transition to college basketball a lot easier for him with how much film they watched together. “If I’m not playing a video game, I’m probably watching (film) with him.”
DeVries was asked to describe his dad’s culture at Drake and what he expects to do at West Virginia. “I’d say he’s going to demand a lot,” DeVries responded. “He’s prertty demanding and just kind of bringing it every day. Consistency, I’d say is one of his biggest things. You know there’s going to be ups and down days but when you’re facing adversity we got to find ways to fight through it. I think in the past, you’s see that with teams where we’d get down and we’d find a way. It might not look pretty but we’re going to find a way to get the job done. I think that starts with the practice mentality of just bringing it every day.”
