Report: Darian DeVries not among candidates for Iowa job

West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries is among the most coveted names on the college basketball coaching carousel. But it appears that Iowa is no longer an option for DeVries, according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel.

DeVries is widely believed to be the leading candidate to become the next head coach at Indiana, according to The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman.

Sources: West Virginia coach Darian DeVries is not a candidate for the Iowa job. pic.twitter.com/yuRiOoAIsq

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 18, 2025

“I do feel like Indiana’s cards are going to be shown pretty quickly here on where they go,” Thamel said on Tuesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “And that will ripple into Iowa’s options. … I think Iowa has been interested in Darian DeVries, I don’t think it’s from Iowa’s side. There’s a large buyout involved, which could be a factor here, but Iowa’s in an interesting situation right now. I would expect if Darian DeVries does go to Indiana, which is at least a possibility at this point, that Ben McCollum would right at the forefront of Iowa’s search. … These things are always very fluid right now.”

Darian DeVries’ tale of the tape

DeVries’s first season at West Virginia ended in heartbreaking fashion after the Mountaineers were controversially left out of the 68-team 2025 NCAA Tournament field on Selection Sunday.

DeVries has a 169-68 (.713) career record through seven seasons as a collegiate coach with Drake and WVU. That resumé includes winning three Missouri Valley Conference titles and, with those, making three appearances in the NCAA Tournament with the Bulldogs. He would have added a fourth total and first at West Virginia this weekend but, again, the selection committee left the Mountaineers out of the field as the First Team Out. In their place as the Last Team In was North Carolina, which was a surprise to those in the Big 12 after the Mountaineers went 19-13 (10-10 B12) this past season.

With that, DeVries could now have this as his one and only season there if he were to take the job at Indiana. That’s with Indiana, who also just missed the tournament right behind West Virginia as the Second Team Out, in search of a new coach after Mike Woodson revealed plans to step down in February. Since then, all kinds of names have been connected to it the past month and a half with DeVries being the latest one involved.

This would be an unfortunate end to this tenure for West Virginia as it would mean looking for their fourth coach in as many seasons after fans felt DeVries should have led them into March Madness. For DeVries, though, it’d be quite the step up for him to be the next man to try to bring back the basketball program at Indiana.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.