Tucker DeVries had always dreamt of playing for Creighton. His father, Darian, was an assistant coach there for 17 years, so Tucker attended countless games and practices while growing up. As a senior at Waukee (Iowa) High School, Tucker was named the state’s Mr. Basketball and was a consensus top-100 recruit. Creighton coach Greg McDermott would have been happy to have him, as would plenty of other coaches.
By that time, however, Darian had become the head coach at Drake. Tucker was torn between playing for his dad or his dream school. He and Darian wondered whether if Tucker played for Drake, it would be awkward for the program and taxing to the relationship.
Fortunately, both father and son had a template to guide them because they had both watched McDermott coach his son, Doug, at Creighton from 2010-14. That worked out well for everyone. Doug became a three-time All-American and as a senior was the consensus National Player of the Year, and the Bluejays played in three straight NCAA Tournaments. When the DeVrieses asked the McDermotts for advice, they were encouraged to give it a try. “I told Tucker, if you play for your dad, you’ll never regret the decision,” Greg McDermott told Hoops HQ. “I think it’s been a win-win for dad and son.”
There has indeed been a lot of winning, but also a lot of moving. During three seasons at Drake, Tucker was twice named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and averaged 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The team’s success earned Darian a promotion to West Virginia, where Tucker averaged 14.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals through the first eight games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Despite that setback, Darian still led the Mountaineers to a seventh place finish in the Big 12 and a 19-13 record, and though they were a controversial omission from the NCAA Tournament, he had done enough to convince Indiana to tap him as the replacement for Mike Woodson, who had announced in early February that he would not return for a fifth season.
Now, Tucker and Darian will be together at their third school in three years. Once again, Darian faces a total rebuild. When he took over at West Virginia, he inherited just one scholarship player who had redshirted the previous season. This time, he has two returnees, both of whom are walk-ons. DeVries signed 10 players out of the transfer portal, but the best of the bunch — again — is Tucker, who is ranked as the No. 9 transfer in the country by The Transfer Portal.
Tucker, who had surgery in January to repair a torn labrum, was cleared by his doctors a couple of weeks ago to resume full-contact practicing. He also received a waiver from the NCAA to compete for a fifth season due to his truncated senior season. That move was expected, but it was also very welcome, not least because it gives Indiana’s new coach at least one familiar face on his roster. “He’s going to be very critical as we’re getting started here,” Darian DeVries told Hoops HQ. “He’s the one player that understands the verbiage, the drills and things, so he can really help facilitate guys while they’re on the sideline. In these early stages, it’s nice to have someone who’s been through it and understands the system.”
The winning and stats have been nice, but the real testament to how well the partnership has worked is the fact that Tucker has now followed his father to three different schools. The challenge is the same as it was for the McDermotts and the many others who have been in this situation — namely, an agreement by all parties to separate the team and family interactions as much as possible. It has also helped immensely that Tucker has been such an outstanding player who brings a proper work ethic and attitude to the locker room. “He’s done a good job of establishing that he just wants to win,” Darian DeVries said. “The biggest thing is just making sure you keep those divides. We get a unique opportunity to share some good times together. Most of those are when you’re traveling or doing the type of things that maybe you missed when they’re growing up. We’ve really enjoyed it and have tried to make the most of it.”
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With Tucker in place, Darian set out once again to build around him. The success he had at West Virginia served as a helpful guide. “We were very intentional about making sure that we were getting the identity we wanted,” DeVries said. “I thought our staff did a really good job of identifying the type of guys that we wanted and making sure they fit well together — putting a team together, not just a collection of individuals.”
Knowing he had Tucker to anchor the frontcourt, Darian could set his sights on signing quality guards. That began with Tayton Conerway, a 6-foot-3 junior who averaged 14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals at Troy last season and is ranked No. 54 nationally by The Portal Report. “He was one of those guys we identified pretty early that we felt would fit how we want to play,” DeVries said. “He can play in the open floor, play in transition. Pretty dynamic as a playmaker.”
DeVries is also excited about Lamar Wilkerson, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who is ranked No. 56 on The Portal Report and shot 44.5 percent from three last season at Sam Houston State. “He shoots the cover off the ball,” DeVries said. “When his misses, it catches you off-guard a little bit.”
Two other frontcourt transfers – Reed Bailey, a 6-foot-11 senior forward from Davidson, and Sam Alexis, a 6-foot-9 senior forward from Florida – are likely to round out the starting lineup, but DeVries is a long way from establishing a firm rotation. He has seen enough during early summer workouts to believe the Hoosiers will look more like the the up-tempo, high-scoring teams he coached at Drake as opposed to his team last year at West Virginia, which ranked 134th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom but was 15th in defensive efficiency and 331st in tempo.
“Offensively, we’ll be pretty skilled,” DeVries said. “A strength of our team will be our ability to shoot the ball at multiple positions. Our five men are very versatile. … Our biggest thing will be, can we get enough paint touches to try to create those shots?”
Establishing a defensive identity, on the other hand, could prove to be more challenging. “We’re still figuring that out, like who can be our lockdown guys?” DeVries said. “It’s more about being pretty connected in the halfcourt and trying to keep the ball out of the paint like everybody else tries to do, picking our spots to be aggressive but moreso protecting one another.”
DeVries has alighted in Bloomington at a delicate time for the program. When Indiana needed a new coach in 2021 after missing out on the NCAA Tournament for five straight years, it turned not to Woodson, who had never coached in college. Besides coaching for 21 seasons in the NBA, Woodson’s primary qualification was that he had played for Indiana from 1976-80. This time around, the school decided to hire someone who has no ties to the program and was not one of the well-known names that had been circulated as candidates.
Indiana may have a proud tradition, but its recent record has been spotty. The Hoosiers have been to just one Sweet Sixteen since 2013 and last made a Final Four in 2002. That has created an impression that this program’s best days are in the past, but DeVries has been pleased with the reception he has gotten, although he has yet to secure any commitments in the Class of 2026. “When you call recruits, there’s certainly a level of interest because of the Indiana brand,” he said. “That’s a big deal and I don’t think that’s really diminished by amy means.”
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DeVries is well-aware of the intense expectations of the Indiana fan base, but he scoffed at the idea that that is a problem. “Coaches put enough pressure on ourselves to try to win, so from my standpoint, you’re not putting more on me,” DeVries said. McDermott believes that his former assistant is suited for the challenge. “D-Rock is a ball coach and he’s a tireless worker,” he said. “He’s got a way of getting everything out of his players. He knows what the expectations are, but he also appreciates the fact that at Indiana, they talk the talk but they also back it up. He’s got the resources he needs to build a great staff and put together a great roster.”
DeVries is now working tirelessly to turn that roster into a great team. The Hoosiers will soon prepare for an exhibition tour to Puerto Rico, which has the benefit of allowing for 10 additional full-team practices in advance of the trip. With so many new faces in the program (including his), the extra work will come in handy. DeVries knows that once the season begins, the eyes of Hoosier Nation will be upon him, but he intends to attack that challenge the same as he has all of his previous ones. “Whether it was an assistant coach or head coach at Drake or West Virginia or here, my approach is going to be the same,” he said. “The work is going to speak for itself. So you put that in, and hopefully some good things come with it.”
