Quick Hits: DeVries gives insight into his sideline demeanor

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University men’s basketball team is less than two weeks away from game action and just over a month away from the official season opener.

Here are the biggest takeaways from head coach Darian DeVries’ press conference Thursday afternoon as the Mountaineers continue their preseason program.

Coaching staff construction

There are five assistant coaches on DeVries’ staff at WVU. Three of them (Tom Ostrom, Nick Norton, Cavel Witter) worked under DeVries at Drake, and that does not include other members of the support staff.

However, Chester Frazier (Illinois) and Kory Barnett (Nevada) come to WVU from other Power-Four programs.

“I thought it was important that we make sure we’re able to cover a good, you know, portion of the country, in terms of of recruiting nationally, even worldwide, you know, being able to go international, and I think we did that with the staff we put together,” DeVries said.

He also mentioned that his assistants will work with each position group instead of being in charge of specific positions in an effort to give the players multiple coaching voices.

“I think we’ve got a lot of versatility in the way we’re able to recruit and the way we’re able to coach on the floor,” he said.

Preseason exhibitions

WVU’s season unofficially begins on Oct. 18 at home in an exhibition game against the University of Charleston, which is led by former Mountaineer James Long as head coach.

DeVries also revealed Thursday that his team will play another closed scrimmage in between the Charleston scrimmage and the season opener against Robert Morris on Nov. 4.

“We’re supposed to keep it a secret,” he said. “How am I doing so far?”

It will be WVU’s first game action since its foreign trip to Italy in August.

“It’s one thing to go and practice,” he said. “It’s another thing — you have to learn by playing games.”

“We have to learn how to win together, and you can’t do that until we start playing,” he added.

A surprising reveal

When asked to give fans a sneak peek into what his sideline demeanor will be, DeVries revealed a shocking stat from his tenure as a men’s college basketball head coach.

“I haven’t had a technical foul yet, so that gives you a little idea,” he said. “I’m not someone that — I don’t put a lot of focus on officials. I mean, there’s times where, maybe, you want to talk to them a little bit, but I don’t think that’s — they’re doing their job.”

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