Five Coaching Candidates to Replace Darian DeVries at West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball team will have a new head coach for the fourth straight season after Darian DeVries left for Indiana.

West Virginia is considered a great basketball job. But, in the past four seasons:

Bob Huggins, 2022-23;

Josh Eliert, 2023-24 (Interim);

Darian DeVries, 2024-25;

???, 2025-26.

 

You have to feel for the good folks in Morgantown. They just want a coach to be successful and stay.

Now, it’s up to athletic director Wren Baker to find the new head coach. And, unlike football, reaching back into the WVU glory days with Huggins doesn’t seem like a possibility.

Here are five coaches that are possibilities.

Ben McCollum, Drake Head Coach

The betting money now is on McCollum taking the Iowa job. That would make sense. Like DeVries, he is an Iowa native.

But don’t count out Baker. He was the athletic director at Northwest Missouri State when McCollum was the men’s basketball coach, so they should have a good relationship. Baker can tap into that if he wants to make a play for the hottest name on the board.

We went over this with the Utah job. McCollum is going to get a high-major job. He won four national titles at Northwest Missouri and led Drake to a Missouri Valley title. When the NCAA Tournament is over for the Bulldogs, Baker needs to shoot his shot ASAP. It may be his only chance.

 

Scott Cross, Troy Head Coach

He’s getting a lot of social media attention for his “Waffle House” recruiting question, but the guy can coach. He took UT Arlington to the NCAA Tournament, led the program for more than a decade and then moved to Troy, where he’s built the Trojans into a program that wins 20 more games with regularity. He and the Trojans will play in March Madness this week.

If you need a reference, he worked for TCU’s Jamie Dixon for a year in between jobs.

John Groce, Arkon Head Coach

He’s about to take the Zips to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years and will face Big 12 power Arizona (still weird to write) in the first round. He’s won everywhere he’s been and has spent the majority of his career in the state of Ohio. Plus, Akron is where Huggins got his first Division I job.

 

Will Wade, McNeese State Head Coach

Does this not sound like a job for the 42-year-old who has rehabilitated his career after taking the Cowboys to back-to-back Southland titles and NCAA Tournament berths? It’s kind of perfect. Wade has no problem being the “outsider,” and he seems to have that Huggins vibe the fan base loves.

The problem? Everyone wants a piece of him. NC State is believed to be the leader in the clubhouse. But Wade will be busy for a few more days, giving Baker a chance to get a lay of the land. This is why coaches have agents.

Chris Mack, Charleston Head Coach

He’s the “safe” hire on this list, a coach with high major experience and a successful track record. He’s coming off a 24-win season at Charleston. He was a big winner at Xaiver and has 302 career wins. He had back-to-back 20-wins seasons at Louisville pre-pandemic, before it all went downhill.