Darian DeVries Speaks on Identity of His Team

Basketball season is slowly creeping closer as the West Virginia men’s basketball team held their first practice on Monday.

The 2024-2025 season will mark the start of a new era for Mountaineer basketball, with Darian DeVries taking over the program as head coach. Not many WVU players returned, and DeVries was tasked with assembling a new roster this season from the transfer portal and a few freshmen.

With a new set of players, most of which he’s never coached before, making up the mass of his team, DeVries spoke about identity on Tuesday.

“I’ve really liked the progress we’ve made from June until now just in terms of, like, the offensive concepts and things. I feel like our identity as an offense is getting better,” DeVries said.

The Mountaineers have had the summer to start getting familiar with each other and their playstyles through trips and scrimmages such as those in Italy. However, there is still a lot to be learned about the makeup of this team, from players to staff.

“We got a much clearer identity, I think, as a coaching staff of what we think it should look like. And some of the roles are starting to get more defined; they’re certainly not set in stone by any means,” DeVries said. ” I think our identity is starting to show up and now it’s just trying to get that identity to be on a more consistent basis every day.”

Identity could play a massive role in a team’s success. It helps teams define and refine what they’re good at. Is the team defensive-minded? Is it a team that shoots the lights out? How does the team respond to adversity?

“I want our identity to be like you should be able to walk in that gym and everybody should walk out talking about how hard we play. And how connected they are, feel that life and that energy every single day. And that’s not only from the team but also from our coaching staff that enthusiasm and love to compete and try to play at the highest level.” DeVries said. “I think every team takes on its own identity, and then you know, as a coaching staff, you just got to try to play to those strengths as best as possible.”

Time should only benefit West Virginia as they look to bond together as a team and build their identity in the first season of DeVries’ tenure. The Mountaineers open up their regular season at home against Robert Morris on Nov. 4.