Great hire by the Hoopies
- Thread starter BballinsiderfromPitt
- Start date
No it’s not. He’s in wayy over his head in the B12.
We’re lucky they didn’t hire some upper echelon coach.
We’re lucky they didn’t hire some upper echelon coach.
He’s in over his head based on what? Because you don’t like WVU? It’s a terrific hire
Time will tell, but it sounds like you will have your Pom Poms out for him.
You mentioned him as a possible Capel replacement multiple times 🤣
You guys seriously can’t have one reasonable take. It’s honestly insane.
He’s only won 73 percent of his games at traditional power Drake? And bringing his 21 PPG son. Elite hire
Ralph Willard looked good on paper when we hired him and Ben Howland was being questioned by the talking heads. Time will tell, but I hope he fails miserably.
They also attached an Uber App rider onto his contract...
Good hire, strong coaching, free all-conference player packaged with him, and spotless record (if not a boring personality).
He checks all the boxes for what they need right now.
With that said, no Mid-Major hire is "Elite". I don't think we can consider WVU, even with their NIL strength, able to attract "elite".
He checks all the boxes for what they need right now.
With that said, no Mid-Major hire is "Elite". I don't think we can consider WVU, even with their NIL strength, able to attract "elite".
He’s as good of a hire as they could’ve expected to get is what I mean. Similar to when we hired Capel, although he Devries has a better record than Capel did. But you couldn’t reasonably expect them to attract a whale and they were smart not to settle for Byington. Would’ve been very underwhelming
Agreed 100%, although after his son leaves, it will be interesting to see how he can recruit.
And your name is? Oh you’re a nobody too. Really awesome putting someone’s name on a message board man. Cool stuff. Grown up stuff. As I said, as good of a hire as they could expect.
Saddest part is you didn’t even have the balls to quote me this time.
I was going to make a "WVU cliches 2025 NCAAT thread" because whether or not DeVries can coach or not, they just landed perhaps the #1 transfer and for free as they dont have to pay real NIL to get him. They can just increase his dad's salary and have him use that as NIL and then use the NIL budget to go get some top players. So they SHOULD have a top half B12 roster, at a minimum and perhaps a Double Bye top roster with the money they can spend on free agents.
Going forward though, he only has his son for 1 season and though while the NCAAT is guaranteed next season, beyond that he appears to be somewhat of a lottery ticket. For a mid-major, he is close to a sure thing, but not exactly. I thought they'd hire a sure thing like a sitting successful P6 coach.
There wasn’t a sitting head coach who would want to live in Morgantown over where they currently are. Chris Jan chose Starkville MS over WVU for god’s sake
I thought they had the money to get someone like Jans or Chris Beard or Lamont Paris or someone like that, not them specifically but something like that.
I'm not sure Lamont Paris is a definite upgrade but Beard and Jans are both in good spots with lots of years and $. Hiring Devries on a 5 year gives them likely NCAAT year 1, see how he does year 2 and make a decision year 3 without much risk. 73 percent of wins at a place like Drake is no joke.
Yea, its a good hire because you usually cant guarantee an NCAAT with a mid-major guy but getting the #1 transfer FOR FREE meaning they have lots to spend in free agency. So you get 1 NCAAT from the get-go and then you see if he can coach or not but like you said, what he did at Drake, even before his son is impressive.
What's their status? Supposedly, there is a state law in Mississippi that prevents coaches from having more than four years on a contract. Yet somehow they have a work around for Lane Kiffin? I haven't really looked into it, but I don't get it.
shockingly, I'm not well versed in Mississippi contract law.
Not sure why they could not just have given Huggy some "I'm All Better Now" certificate from Drunks Anonymous and re-hired him...
On paper the first reaction of this hire should be a meh. His resume is looks very curated to me. He's won a for bit but barely ever seem to take games against P5 teams.
For WVU, this looks similar to Neil Brown roll of the dice kind of hire.
He was the hottest mid major coach who won 73 percent of his games and brings a 21 PPG son. Other than plucking a Beard, Jans or rolling the dice on Wade who probably wouldn't haven taken it, who could they have reasonably hired that's better?
For all the hype on Devries (the player) he didn't play very well on the big stage the last two years. Who knows how he translates to a much tougher league. In closing minutes of their loss the other night, he didn't want the ball. I know he has great stats but the last two years in the tournament have been bad.
I wasn't suggesting that they could do better but it's definitely not a home run hire just like Neil Brown hasn't been.
I agree its not a Home Run as I feared they'd go really big and land a very successful sitting P6 coach. However, if you are going mid-major, Devries seems a bit better than the usual lottery ticket and I say that because he coaches. He consistently won at a program that doesn't have any major advantages over its peers in the MVC. So, like, he did it himself.
And its massively important that he brings possibly the #1 transfer and FOR FREE. That is maybe bigger than anything. Not only do you get an elite player, you now have a full budget to go after other top transfers. Its possible that WVU can have a Top 15 roster depending on who they can buy.
They could've waited til April 1 to fire KP save 2 mill and still end up with Pitino's son.
How does that AD still have a job?
- made worst hire in D1 history
- didnt fire him after Year 1
- didn't fire him in Jan/Feb to get a jump start
- didnt save $2 million by waiting until April 1
- struck out on everyone and will hire the fired Minnesota coach
The only way you can make the Richard hire is if Rick told every booster that wanted him back they need to back him on NIL> only chance it could work.
Louisville boosters have deep pockets. No matter who they hire, you'd figure they'd spend in free agency. Are Louisville donors more willing to spend because Ricky Jr is the HC instead of Wade, Oats, Cronin, Smith, Kelsey, etc?
Lil'Dicky had final four talent within 25 miles from campus in Minnesota the whole time he was there and couldn't land any of it.
I actually thought this was joke when I first read it.
Louisville post-NIL is a house of cards.
It’s not a high academic and, while having some tradition, it was essentially a test case of what can happen if a shoe company just pumps millions into a school that has zero shame. Now that NIL is legal, their greatest advantage is neutralized and we’re seeing the result.
It’s not a high academic and, while having some tradition, it was essentially a test case of what can happen if a shoe company just pumps millions into a school that has zero shame. Now that NIL is legal, their greatest advantage is neutralized and we’re seeing the result.
