Darian DeVries has been named the 23rd coach of the West Virginia men’s basketball program.
DeVries comes to WVU after a six-year stint with the Drake Bulldogs. DeVries won 20 or more games in six consecutive seasons at Drake before leaving for Morgantown.
The former Bulldogs coach replaces interim coach Josh Eilert following a 9-23 season. Eilert stepped in for Bob Huggins, who departed after a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh last year.
That got me to thinking about the history of WVU men’s basketball in relation to Kanawha Valley natives.
In the more than 100 years of Mountaineer basketball, just two Kanawha Valley natives have coached WVU — George King and Sonny Moran.
Plenty of Mountain State natives have led the Mountaineers, but only King and Moran are ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä natives. King coached the Mountaineers from 1960-65, while Moran was in Morgantown from 1969-74.
King took over the Mountaineers after Fred Schaus went to the NBA and reunited with his former player Jerry West with the Los Angeles Lakers.
While in Morgantown, King went 102-43 overall and 63-5 in conference play. Those five conference losses are the fewest among WVU coaches who coached five or more seasons.
King was a standout basketball player for Morris Harvey College (now the University of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä). He helped Morris Harvey to four NCAA tournaments. King finished his playing career in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä scoring more than 2,500 points in 117 career games.
King coached players such as Gay Elmore Sr., Gale Catlett (who later would be the coach at WVU) and Rod Thorn.
Moran also coached five years in Morgantown, posting a record of 57-68 during his time leading the Mountaineers.
Moran coached a few Kanawha Valley legends during his tenure, such as former ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä High stars Curtis Price, Levi Phillips and Larry “Deacon†Harris.
The history of WVU men’s basketball is rich with Kanawha Valley fingerprints.
SOFTBALL AT GOMART: More than 10 high school softball teams will compete inside GoMart Ballpark this week in the Guard the Capitol Invitational.
Plenty of local teams will be participating in this event, with Herbert Hoover, Hurricane and St. Albans serving as the local talent.
The Red Dragons will play on Wednesday against Oak Hill at 3 p.m., then Hurricane caps off the day by playing the Red Devils at 7 p.m.
St. Albans will play a doubleheader on Thursday, starting at 1 p.m. against PikeView, then at 3 p.m. against Hoover.
The Redskins and Huskies will finish the two-day event on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Taylor Kennedy covers sports. He can be reached at 304-348-7935 or tkennedy@hdmediallc.com. Follow @Taylor_Kennedy7 on Twitter.
