DES MOINES – Drake University has hired a new head men’s basketball coach.
Darian DeVries, an Iowa native and former assistant at Creighton University, was named head men’s basketball coach Thursday. DeVries spent 17 years at Creighton after playing for the University of Northern Iowa in the late 1990s.
DeVries, a native of Aplington, Iowa, will be introduced at a press conference Friday.
“I’m so blessed and humbled to have this opportunity to lead the Drake men’s basketball program,” DeVries said. “This program has tremendous potential because of the commitment by President Martin and director of athletics Brian Hardin to make Drake men’s basketball a consistent winner. The city of Des Moines is an awesome place to be and we can’t wait to show it off to future recruits. When you have a great academic institution combined with a vibrant city and people that go out of their way to help one another, it’s a recipe for sustained success.”
DeVries, 42, is one of the longest-tenured men’s basketball assistant coaches at one school in the nation and recently assisted the Bluejays in their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years. During his time on the Creighton staff under both Dana Altman and Greg McDermott, the program has accumulated a record of 460-211 and 231-129 in conference games.
“Darian is an exceptionally talented coach who has found considerable success in his Division I career,” said Drake University President Marty Martin. “His commitment to on-court and academic excellence reflect values that are intrinsic to Drake Athletics. His 17 years of loyalty to the Bluejays contributed to a remarkable depth of talent and character in that program, and we look forward to the same exceptional caliber of leadership from Coach DeVries here at Drake.”
“Darian has had a significant role in creating a tremendous level of sustained success at Creighton over the past 20 years and I’m thrilled he has accepted this opportunity to lead our men’s basketball program,” Hardin said. “I’m excited to welcome a native Iowan back home and I look forward to our community helping Darian take the Drake men’s basketball team to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.”
Before joining the staff at then Missouri Valley Conference member Creighton in 1998, he already had an extensive background in the Valley as a starter at UNI under coach Eldon Miller. DeVries ranks 31st all-time in career scoring at UNI with 1,084 points and was twice an MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection.
DeVries graduated from UNI in 1998 with a B.A. in elementary education and a minor in physical education. He earned his master’s degree in college counseling from Creighton in 2000.
DeVries was a standout athlete in high school at Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa), and in the spring of 2015 was inducted into the IHSAA Hall of Fame.
