For the second straight year, Indiana has had to replace a coach for one of their major sports programs. Last year, Indiana had to get a new football coach and found former James Madison coach Curt Cignetti, who did amazing things in year one.
Now, this year, Indiana has just brought in their newest basketball coach, hiring West Virginia's Darian DeVries. DeVries was announced as the newest basketball coach yesterday, and today stood and spoke before the media and others within Indiana's administration.
Everyone knows what Cignetti did in his first season at Indiana. He led the team to thier best record in program history, numerous players brought numerous program records that had been held for years, and took the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. He did this all in his first season with a team full of transfer portal players.
When Indiana was searching for their next basketball coach, lots of people said they needed to go out and get a Curt Cignetti for basketball, and the Hoosiers just might have done that. Cignetti coming to Indiana from a smaller program was something that I believe helped him in his first season because the expectations were not very high, especially with how Indiana football has always been.
However, for DeVries, it may not be that way. Indiana basketball is always expected to be the best based on its history of a winning culture. For the past two seasons, that culture has been lost, and it is now on the shoulders of DeVries to bring it back to Hoosiers.
DeVries has proved he is a winner as a two-time MAC Coach of the Year Award winner and was fairly successful in his first and only season with West Virginia, his first position with a power conference program. Now, with more resources, like Cignetti had as well, DeVries can do more than he could have possibly dreamed of and has the chance to do something special in his first year, just like Cignetti did on the football field.