“I felt bad for the seniors”: Indiana HC Darian DeVries gets real about leaving West Virginia for his “dream job”

Darian DeVries opened up about leaving West Virginia. The Indiana coach discussed accepting his new position with CBS analyst Jon Rothstein.

DeVries talked about his career move in a video posted on YouTube by CBS Sports College Basketball on Thursday.

"That was hard," DeVries said. "You go through that Sunday night and there's a lot of emotions going through your head and most of it's concerning your team. I just felt so bad for those seniors because it caught us off guard that we weren't going to be playing on that stage. I wanted that so bad for them."

DeVries' Mountaineers went 19-13 last season but were snubbed of an NCAA Tournament berth. The coach reflected on the choices he had to make after West Virginia's season abruptly ended.

"Ultimately decided to come here to Indiana, and it's just one of those jobs that when you go into this coaching position, for me at least, it's one of those dream jobs," DeVries said.

DeVries began his coaching career at Drake, spending six seasons with the program. He led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and back-to-back conference tournament titles. He broke into the Power conference with the Mountaineers last season and will take over a historic program in Indiana.

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NCAAB analyst discusses Indiana's Big Ten potential

College basketball analyst Rob Dauster has high hopes for Indiana in Darian DeVries' inaugural season. He believes the Hoosiers can give Purdue a run for its money at the top of the Big Ten.

Dauster pointed to one player who he thinks will be a difference maker for DeVries' team.

"You might call me crazy but I think Lamar Wilkerson is gonna come in and have a Chaz Lanier kind of an impact this season," Dauster said in May, via "The Field of 68." "I think they are very very similar players. I think there is enough on that roster for them to be in that mix for Top 25ish and be those to 5 teams in the Big 10."

DeVries has thrived at securing transfer targets this offseason, and Indiana has 10 incoming transfers, including Wilkerson. Dauster believes Wilkerson could have the same impact on Indiana as Lanier had on Tennessee.

Lanier was a standout in his sole season with the Volunteers. He led the team in scoring with 18.0 points and started in all 38 games. Wilkerson will look to have a similar impact as he joins the Hoosiers following three years at Sam Houston.

DeVries has done well rounding out his roster for his first season with the Hoosiers, and Dauster believes they have what it takes to find success in the Big Ten.