A new era for West Virginia basketball will open Monday night when the Mountaineers host Robert Morris in Morgantown, W.Va.Darian DeVries has taken over the West Virginia program after leading Drake to five consecutive 20-win seasons. Last year, West Virginia finished 9-23 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 Conference under interim coach Josh Eilert.The Mountaineers have 14 new players.Tucker DeVries, a Drake transfer who was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and is the coach’s son, headlines a solid group of transfers. That list includes Javon Small from Oklahoma State and high-scoring Detroit Mercy guard Jayden Stone.Some of the key transfers expected to give West Virginia a boost include Amani Hansberry (Illinois), Sencire Harris (Illinois), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), and Eduardo Andre (Fresno State).Darian DeVries also had a solid recruiting class with Ohio Mr. Basketball Jonathan Powell and Tennessee Mr. Basketball KJ Tenner.”In our case, we’ve got a lot of new guys, and the hardest thing for every team is you’ve got to learn how to win together, and how do you do that?” DeVries said. “It’s not always hitting 18 3s every night, so you have to figure out how to win on a night when you are 2-for-15 and getting some tough calls and you’re on the road. How do you find a way to win those games? Right now, it’s just me giving them bad calls in practice.”The Mountaineers recently were picked to finish 13th in this year’s Big 12 preseason poll. The game against Robert Morris will be a solid challenge, but DeVries has tempered the expectations.
West Virginia, with new look, tests mettle vs. Robert Morris
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