The moment Darian DeVries took the Indiana job, many around West Virginia began to speculate on his decision to leave WVU after just one year at the helm.
Is this something he had in mind from the jump? Did he talk to Indiana during the Battle 4 Atlantis early in the year? What about the injury to his son, Tucker, that forced him to miss the majority of the season? Did he sit out to retain a year of eligibility?
Only a select few people know the answers to most or all of those questions, and WVU athletic director Wren Baker is one of them. While Baker has commented on DeVries’ departure in the past, he never really dove deep into it, mainly because he was conducting a coaching search and eventually introducing DeVries’ replacement, Ross Hodge. He’s been a busy guy.
On Thursday, Baker appeared on the Big 12 Today podcast and was asked directly about DeVries’ departure, and how the narrative was that it felt like he was out the door during the season.
“I think the first thing I would say is one, Coach DeVries did a really good job coaching the basketball team this year. Deserves credit for that. We should have been in the NCAA Tournament, still don’t know how that didn’t happen. But there were multiple other schools who had reached out to Darian because there were several jobs that were open before the season closed. I know factually that he declined to talk to those schools. The only one that I’m aware of that he entertained at all was Indiana.
“In situations like this, people will conjure up a lot of this happened and that happened. I probably have more knowledge of the facts because I was inside. Whether it was Tucker’s injury or there’s all kinds of crazy things that are out there. I believe that for whatever reason, he felt like Indiana was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it was one of the few he would probably leave for, and it just happened to open at the wrong time. I was disappointed. I think you look at the recent history, this job has performed as well or better than Indiana.
“Felt like we were set up and building something special here, but ultimately, I think there’s two things that you walk away from. One, there are certain things that are in your control, and certain things that aren’t. It was not my decision to make. It was his, and I have to respect that. There’s nothing I can do to change it.
“I think the other thing that I would say is you can go down these rabbit holes of conspiracy theories, but what good does that do? I know what he articulated to me throughout the season. I know the facts of what I do know, and life is short. I got two young daughters. I’ve got lots of things going on. I’d rather probably not spend my time trying to speculate on conspiracy theories because the outcome of that, no matter what, would not be favorable anyway.”
Baker also mentioned that everything happens for a reason.
“I think Coach Hodge was the right coach at the right time and has come in here and truly opened his heart to West Virginians and is quickly acclimating and getting to know people and becoming a part of the culture.”
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