Drake hires Creighton assistant Darian DeVries as head men's basketball coach

Longtime Creighton assistant coach Darian DeVries has been named head men's basketball at Drake, athletic director Brian Hardin informed the Register on Thursday morning.

DeVries will be introduced as head coach at an afternoon press conference on Friday, Hardin said.

DeVries told the Register via text message that he was in Des Moines meeting with Drake's players on Thursday.

PETERSON: DeVries will be Drake-loyal; he's wanted Bulldogs' job for a while

There had been heavy buzz throughout Wednesday that DeVries, a native of Aplington, Iowa, was the favorite for the job. Over the course of the day, 11 sources with connections to known candidates or the university told the Register that DeVries had emerged as a prime candidate for the job, with many saying they expected him to become the next Bulldogs coach.

"I'm so blessed and humbled to have this opportunity to lead the Drake men’s basketball program," DeVries said in Drake's official release. "This program has tremendous potential because of the commitment by President Martin and director of athletics Brian Hardin to make Drake men’s basketball a consistent winner. The city of Des Moines is an awesome place to be and we can't wait to show it off to future recruits. When you have a great academic institution combined with a vibrant city and people that go out of their way to help one another, it's a recipe for sustained success."

Early Thursday morning, Iowa State assistant coach Daniyal Robinson, who was a finalist for the job, told the Register he was informed he had not been hired.

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DeVries has been an assistant coach at Creighton since 2001, and he was a student manager 1998-2001. Since then, the Blue Jays have reached the postseason in 19 of his 20 seasons, including 12 NCAA Tournament berths. Last year, Creighton went 21-12 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Kansas State.

DeVries played his college basketball at Northern Iowa, starting for four years and scoring 1,084 points in his career.

Before college, DeVries played his high school ball at Aplington and Aplington-Parkersburg. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2015.

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"Darian has had a significant role in creating a tremendous level of sustained success at Creighton over the past 20 years and I'm thrilled he has accepted this opportunity to lead our men's basketball program," Hardin said in the release. "I'm excited to welcome a native Iowan back home and I look forward to our community helping Darian take the Drake men's basketball team to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference."

Drake finished last season 17-17 and fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. Last Thursday, former head coach Niko Medved left Drake to become the head coach of Colorado State. Former Drake assistant coaches Ali Farokhmanesh and JR Blount followed Medved to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Medved's third assistant at Drake, Dave Thorson, was named interim head coach after Medved left and he was a candidate for the Bulldogs coach position.

The Register's Randy Peterson and Tommy Birch contributed to this report.

Matthew Bain covers college football and basketball recruiting for the Des Moines Register. He also helps out with Iowa and Iowa State football and basketball coverage for HawkCentral and Cyclone Insider. Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.