(Undated) -- Drake University head coach Darian DeVries has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. DeVries has earned the league's top coaching honor two times (2019 and this year).
DeVries has guided the Bulldogs to 24 wins in his third season to tie for the third most wins in program history along with his 2018-19 team. The 24 wins marked the Bulldogs' third-straight 20-win season, a feat that has only occurred once before in program history and not in the last 50 years.
In conference play, his squad tied the school record for league wins with 15 in finishing second in the league standings while navigating unforeseen injuries late in the conference season in a condensed schedule that saw his team play 14 games in 32 days. Prior to that, the Bulldogs opened the season with a school-record 18-straight wins and were just one of three unbeaten teams in the nation before dropping their first contest of the season.
The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed entering postseason play Friday at the MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs play the winner of the Illinois State/UNI game Friday at 5 p.m.