Drake basketball coach Darian DeVries on new Missouri Valley Conference programs, injuries
Drake men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries spoke with optimism Monday during his team's media day ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. The Bulldogs have reason to be excited about the season.
Drake is considered a favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bulldogs return four upperclassmen and MVC Freshman of the Year Tucker DeVries from last season. Conference heavyweight Loyola of Chicago has departed for the Atlantic 10.
“Exciting time for us,” Darian DeVries said Monday. “We’ve got a lot of guys back, a lot of returns, very experienced club. … Looking forward to getting the season started and hopefully no COVID pauses and things this year so everything can run smoothly.”
New year, new opponents
Drake’s schedule will look a little different this year.
With three additions to the MVC – Belmont, Murray State and Illinois-Chicago – not only will the Bulldogs face new opponents, but they’ll also start conference play much earlier than in the past. Drake’s first conference game will take place at Indiana State on Nov. 30, which is just the seventh game of the season for the Bulldogs.
“I think the Valley adding the three teams they added, the way the Valley has been able to recruit … I think we’re in the strongest position as we’ve ever been,” DeVries said. “I think we’re where we need to be now. We just got to go win.”
Several Valley teams saw a lot of roster turnover in the offseason thanks to the transfer portal – something Drake did not struggle with. That means Drake is starting from scratch when preparing to face those teams.
The Bulldogs' first conference home game will feature one of those new programs: Illinois-Chicago.
Preseason injury update
No team is immune to injury issues, and Drake is no exception.
First is D.J. Wilkins, who is still working back from a knee injury suffered at the end of last season. DeVries told the Register last week that Wilkins is expected to be back by November. Wilkins is one of the best perimeter defenders in the conference, and the Bulldogs will need him as the team adjusts to life without Tremell Murphy and ShanQuan Hemphill.
Roman Penn continues to nurse a foot injury, but Drake is confident that he’ll be back by November as well.
Issa Samake is an interesting one. DeVries shared that Samake is still working though the rehab process from his knee injury last year. Samake was expected to add some much needed size to the Bulldogs' roster, but with the addition of transfer forward Eric Northweather, his absence might not be that much of an issue early on.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake basketball's Darian DeVries on new MVC opponents, injuries
