Drake guard Tucker DeVries, son of incoming West Virginia coach Darian, plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Drake guard Tucker DeVries plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, On3’s Joe Tipton reports. The decision comes as his father, Darian, is preparing to take over as the head coach at West Virginia.

Tucker DeVries committed to play for his father at Drake, and put together three impressive years in Des Moines. He won Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022 as he averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.

He kept getting better from there, winning two MVC Player of the Year awards and setting career-highs in 2023-24. DeVries averaged 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 44% from the field to repeat as the Larry Bird Trophy winner. He also led Drake to a second consecutive Arch Madness title to return to the NCAA Tournament, and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

As a high school player at Waukee Senior High School in Iowa, DeVries was the Iowa Mr. Basketball before committing to play for his father at Drake. Once news broke of Darian DeVries’ decision to take the West Virginia job, The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported the expectation was Tucker would go with him.

Now in the transfer portal, one step of that process is complete.

Darian DeVries is signing a five-year contract to take over at West Virginia after six seasons at Drake. The Bulldogs went 150-55 after he took over in 2018, and they won a conference title in his first year at the helm. His name came up in connection with multiple coaching jobs last year, but he’s now getting ready to head to Morgantown to replace Josh Eilert, who was the interim head coach after Bob Huggins’ departure.

Drake was DeVries’ first head coaching opportunity after 17 years as an assistant coach at Creighton, starting under Dana Altman and continuing under Greg McDermott. He took over in 2018 for Niko Medved, who departed for Colorado State after just one season in Des Moines, and found immediate success. In DeVries’ first season, Drake shared the MVC regular-season title with Loyola Chicago – the program’s first conference title since 2008.

Two years later, the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid, and after playing in the CBI in 2022, won back-to-back MVC Tournaments to go dancing again.

Drake won 20 games in each of DeVries’ six seasons at the helm, including a 28-7 record in 2023-24. The Bulldogs fell to Washington State in the Round of 64 despite leading late.