Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Connectivity Key For DeVries As Mountaineers Continue Preseason Work
October 04, 2024 08:41 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Coach Darian DeVries' Mountaineers are now deep into preseason practice, 14 days shy of their first exhibition game against Charleston at the WVU Coliseum on Friday, Oct. 18.
In between the first exhibition and the Robert Morris season opener on Monday, Nov. 4 will be a closed scrimmage against an undisclosed opponent at an undisclosed location. DeVries, meeting with media inside the Basketball Practice Facility yesterday afternoon, was asked how he handles dispersing information from those super-secret sessions.
"We're supposed to keep it a secret. How am I doing so far?" he said to laughter.
What's not a secret is the fact that his 2024-25 squad is going to be somewhat smaller compared to what the rest of the Big 12 typically puts out on the court. That means DeVries has spent extra time working on West Virginia's post defense during preseason practices.
That will be a continual focus throughout the season.
"We will be a little undersized, so we are going to have to get creative with how we defend in the post and the way we rebound," DeVries explained. "We need to be physical, and there will be times when we've got to send another body to go provide some help down there.
"We have been putting a lot of time in being able to trap the post and play off that," he continued. "Some nights, we will be able to play it straight up and there are going to be other nights when we will need to bring an extra body for some help. You've got to get great at rotations, communication and some of those things."
The one big DeVries was asked about specifically was 6-foot-8, 240-pound sophomore Amani Hansberry, a former four-star prep prospect from Silver Spring, Maryland, who spent his freshman season at Illinois.
Hansberry is probably closer to 6-foot-7, but DeVries likes his ability to step out and shoot the 3. That could be an aspect of West Virginia's offensive attack that Mountaineer fans haven't seen since the John Beilein days when he had 6-foot-11 shooting center Kevin Pittsnogle.
"I hope he makes them like Pittsnogle did," DeVries deadpanned.
"He's put a lot of time into it this summer," the coach added. "In practice, you don't get as many reps, so we are only getting three to four reps in practice of him shooting 3s during live action, and I want it to be somewhere in that four-to-eight range on game day because I do think he's put in enough time, and his numbers reflect during the summer and the fall that he's more than capable out there.
"It puts a lot of pressure on a defense when he can step out and shoot it the way he does. He's a terrific passer from there as well," DeVries said.
In the backcourt, guard Javon Small is another high-profile transfer DeVries is hoping will provide a big boost to the Mountaineer attack. The Oklahoma State standout has Big 12 experience, and so far, he's been as good as advertised on the offensive end of the floor.
DeVries has been equally encouraged with what Small is capable of bringing to the team defensively as well.
"Javon has been terrific, and offensively, is kind of what I thought we were getting, and defensively, that's where I think he's made the greatest strides from getting here in June until now," DeVries explained. "He's really made some good steps, and when you add him and a couple of the other guys who I think are pretty strong defensively, I think we can really have a good, strong backcourt defensively."
Among the players on this year's roster, nobody knows DeVries' system better than his son, Tucker – and that probably includes the coaching staff as well.
Guard Joseph Yesufu is another player with a good understanding of how DeVries wants his teams to play going back to his two seasons at Drake before transferring first to Kansas, and then to Washington State.
The rest of the roster is a potpourri of players from different backgrounds and styles that DeVries must blend into one cohesive group.
The word DeVries likes to use is "connectivity" when explaining this process.
"It certainly adds challenges when you have as many new faces as we have, in addition to new coaching staff and no returners from the previous team," he noted. "The good part for me is I've done it twice now. My first year at Drake, I believe we brought in 10 new guys and my last year at Drake we brought in something very similar.
"It leads to more time and attention to detail that you have to spend on things in terms of terminology and that type of stuff, but I do like the fact that we had our trip to Italy, and I think that helped just to give us a little extra time to work on those things and spend a little more time on the some of the concepts and stuff," DeVries said.
The coach admits he's seen significant improvement in that area during the last week to 10 days.
"It's one thing to get it to go in practice, but it's another thing in games and you have to learn by playing games," he said. "We have to learn how to win together, and you can't do that until we start playing."
Pieces that still need to be installed are zone offense and defense and end-of-game situations, according to the coach.
The trick to making things work effectively, according to DeVries, is getting players to buy into different roles, perhaps even roles they weren't accustomed to playing at their prior schools.
"I think that's the hardest part of any team is guys being able to fit into their roles," he said. "It's that connectivity – how do we all fit together? How do we play well together? As coaches, how do we continue to utilize and find the strengths of each individual and incorporate that into what the group needs to be?
"Those roles can continue to change and evolve. You are not going to be the same team in November in March, so hopefully, we are a better version of ourselves in March," he concluded.
DeVries has another media session scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon and fans will also be able to catch the coach and select players at Big 12 media day in Kansas City on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Season tickets remain on sale and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
In between the first exhibition and the Robert Morris season opener on Monday, Nov. 4 will be a closed scrimmage against an undisclosed opponent at an undisclosed location. DeVries, meeting with media inside the Basketball Practice Facility yesterday afternoon, was asked how he handles dispersing information from those super-secret sessions.
"We're supposed to keep it a secret. How am I doing so far?" he said to laughter.
What's not a secret is the fact that his 2024-25 squad is going to be somewhat smaller compared to what the rest of the Big 12 typically puts out on the court. That means DeVries has spent extra time working on West Virginia's post defense during preseason practices.
That will be a continual focus throughout the season.
"We will be a little undersized, so we are going to have to get creative with how we defend in the post and the way we rebound," DeVries explained. "We need to be physical, and there will be times when we've got to send another body to go provide some help down there.
"We have been putting a lot of time in being able to trap the post and play off that," he continued. "Some nights, we will be able to play it straight up and there are going to be other nights when we will need to bring an extra body for some help. You've got to get great at rotations, communication and some of those things."
The one big DeVries was asked about specifically was 6-foot-8, 240-pound sophomore Amani Hansberry, a former four-star prep prospect from Silver Spring, Maryland, who spent his freshman season at Illinois.
Hansberry is probably closer to 6-foot-7, but DeVries likes his ability to step out and shoot the 3. That could be an aspect of West Virginia's offensive attack that Mountaineer fans haven't seen since the John Beilein days when he had 6-foot-11 shooting center Kevin Pittsnogle.
"I hope he makes them like Pittsnogle did," DeVries deadpanned.
"He's put a lot of time into it this summer," the coach added. "In practice, you don't get as many reps, so we are only getting three to four reps in practice of him shooting 3s during live action, and I want it to be somewhere in that four-to-eight range on game day because I do think he's put in enough time, and his numbers reflect during the summer and the fall that he's more than capable out there.
"It puts a lot of pressure on a defense when he can step out and shoot it the way he does. He's a terrific passer from there as well," DeVries said.
In the backcourt, guard Javon Small is another high-profile transfer DeVries is hoping will provide a big boost to the Mountaineer attack. The Oklahoma State standout has Big 12 experience, and so far, he's been as good as advertised on the offensive end of the floor.
DeVries has been equally encouraged with what Small is capable of bringing to the team defensively as well.
"Javon has been terrific, and offensively, is kind of what I thought we were getting, and defensively, that's where I think he's made the greatest strides from getting here in June until now," DeVries explained. "He's really made some good steps, and when you add him and a couple of the other guys who I think are pretty strong defensively, I think we can really have a good, strong backcourt defensively."
Among the players on this year's roster, nobody knows DeVries' system better than his son, Tucker – and that probably includes the coaching staff as well.
Guard Joseph Yesufu is another player with a good understanding of how DeVries wants his teams to play going back to his two seasons at Drake before transferring first to Kansas, and then to Washington State.
The rest of the roster is a potpourri of players from different backgrounds and styles that DeVries must blend into one cohesive group.
The word DeVries likes to use is "connectivity" when explaining this process.
"It certainly adds challenges when you have as many new faces as we have, in addition to new coaching staff and no returners from the previous team," he noted. "The good part for me is I've done it twice now. My first year at Drake, I believe we brought in 10 new guys and my last year at Drake we brought in something very similar.
"It leads to more time and attention to detail that you have to spend on things in terms of terminology and that type of stuff, but I do like the fact that we had our trip to Italy, and I think that helped just to give us a little extra time to work on those things and spend a little more time on the some of the concepts and stuff," DeVries said.
The coach admits he's seen significant improvement in that area during the last week to 10 days.
"It's one thing to get it to go in practice, but it's another thing in games and you have to learn by playing games," he said. "We have to learn how to win together, and you can't do that until we start playing."
Pieces that still need to be installed are zone offense and defense and end-of-game situations, according to the coach.
The trick to making things work effectively, according to DeVries, is getting players to buy into different roles, perhaps even roles they weren't accustomed to playing at their prior schools.
"I think that's the hardest part of any team is guys being able to fit into their roles," he said. "It's that connectivity – how do we all fit together? How do we play well together? As coaches, how do we continue to utilize and find the strengths of each individual and incorporate that into what the group needs to be?
"Those roles can continue to change and evolve. You are not going to be the same team in November in March, so hopefully, we are a better version of ourselves in March," he concluded.
DeVries has another media session scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon and fans will also be able to catch the coach and select players at Big 12 media day in Kansas City on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Season tickets remain on sale and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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