Mountaineers fans will get their first look at new head coach Darian DeVries and the 2024-2025 WVU men’s basketball team when they face Charleston (DII) in an exhibition on Friday night.
With a new-look squad and having never played in the WVU Coliseum, DeVries has a great opportunity to test the waters in the exhibition. On Thursday, he explained some benefits, what his approach will be and more.
“I think just a lot of that first game butterflies is what I know we for sure we’ll get out,” DeVries said. “I know our guys are extremely excited to get in the Coliseum and get a chance to play in front of our fans. And play somebody else for that matter. It’s time for us to get out there and go play so we’re excited about that. And give us a great opportunity to see where we’re at with some things from an execution standpoint at both ends of the floor.”
However, there is some gamesmanship involved. DeVries explained how he doesn’t want to show too much of his team and their schemes, which may give regular-season opponents an edge.
“We won’t you show a lot but we’ll play and be pretty free and open,” DeVries said.
DeVries emphasized getting his players out there in front of their home crowd to work through potential nerves approaching the season.
“I think just in general just an opportunity for all of our guys to go out there play, get to be in front of our home crowd. And again, work through some of those things, those early season jitters,” DeVries said.
In terms of the team’s health, DeVries expects that his team will be fully healthy barring any injuries in practice.
“I think everybody’s in a pretty good spot as long as we get through practice and shoot around tomorrow, we’ll be in good shape,” DeVries said.
When discussing his approach to Friday’s exhibition, DeVries noted that the obvious goal is to win. However, he would like to give all his players time to gain experience and evaluate some he may be unfamiliar with in game-like situations.
“I think the approach is we’re going to approach it to go win the game. I mean, you want to try to do that, obviously,” DeVries said. “The second side of it, you’d also like to get everybody on the floor and get them some experience. So we’ll see how it goes there’s been an exhibition game or two where I’ve had to play the starters a little longer than I would have liked. And then there’s been some where both teams were able to get all their guys in get them some great valuable experience and stuff . And ultimately that’s what I think we’d both like to see happen is be able to get all of our guys on the floor and get them some experience.”
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. EST tomorrow as DeVries looks to give his team a good warmup before they officially start their season when they host Robert Morris on Nov. 4.
