WVU Basketball Set to Open Season Against Robert Morris | WV Sports Now

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Darian DeVries era at West Virginia is about to begin, as the WVU basketball and its first-year head coach are set to open the 2024-25 season at home against visiting Robert Morris tomorrow inside the WVU Coliseum.

“We’re ready, we’re excited to play,” DeVries said on Friday. “Our guys are excited to get out there and play.”

Both West Virginia (9-23, 4-14 Big 12) and Robert Morris (10-22, 6-14 Horizon) are hoping for better results this season after disappointing campaigns in 2023-24.

WVU has a completely new roster, built by DeVries this offseason, that includes 10 transfers, four true freshmen and just two returners — backup forward Ofri Naveh and football player Aden Tagaloa-Nelson, who has not joined the team yet.

While not yet set in stone, DeVries said he expects to use an eight-man rotation to start the season with one or two more players seeing spot minutes as needed.

“We have a pretty good idea of what that rotation looks like right now,” he said. “It can always change, I tell the guys all the time their role is not permanent.”

Transfers Tucker DeVries (Drake), the coach’s son, and Javon Small (Oklahoma State) are expected to be the leaders on the team. Illinois transfers Amani Hansberry and Sencire Harris and Illinois-Chicago transfer Toby Okani joined DeVries and Small in the starting lineup for the team’s exhibition against Charleston last month.

While WVU basketball looks completely new with a first-year head coach and rebuilt roster, the Colonials are led by 15-year head coach Andy Toole.

Senior guard Justice Williams is the team’s top returner after averaging 12.3 points per game last season. This summer, Toole added transfers DJ Smith (Bowling Green), Kam Woods (Troy) and Josh Omojafo (Gannon).

Omojafo and Smith led Robert Morris with 15 points apiece in its exhibition against Villanova last week. The Colonials lost the game 87-73 but were within 10 points midway through the second half.

“They played them really well,” DeVries said. “They have a ton of new faces just like we do. I thought it was a very competitive game, they present some challenges that we’re going to have to be ready for.”

Talking to Pittsburgh Sports Now’s George Michalowski on ‘The Pittsburgh Basketball Show’, Toole said he was encouraged by the performance, but it also revealed where his team needs to improve the most.

“The way the guys continued to fight kind of kept that game within reach for a majority of the second half,” Toole said. “But there were a few times when the small details killed us. When you play against quality players and quality programs, they’re going to take advantage of those chinks in your armor.”

Villanova held advantages in points points (44-20) and rebounding (51-27) and scored 15 second-chance points.

“I don’t think there’s ever a time when you first take the court with your uniforms on that there’s not going to be something to practice,” Toole said. “There were some things I was disappointed that we didn’t handle as well as we could have.”

Toole had a strong first 10 years at RMU, with five 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, but things have not gone as smoothly since the Colonials moved to the Horizon League five years ago. Since moving, RMU is just 24-52 in its new league and 38-78 overall.

Monday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

For a related story, DeVries and WVU basketball are ready for a long offseason to finally be over.

WVU Basketball Excited for Long Offseason to Finally End

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