Inside The Panthers

Pitt Rival Hires Former Drake HC

The Pitt Panthers' biggest rival has their new head coach.

Stephen Thompson

Drake v Washington State
Drake v Washington State / Jamie Squire/GettyImages

PITTSBURGH -- A year from hell has given way to a fresh start for the Pitt Panthers' biggest rival.

After legendary head coach Bob Huggins was dismissed from his position and interim head coach Josh Eibert rode out his one year at the helm for West Virginia, Pitt's rivals to the south have their new head coach in Darian DeVries, who comes over from Drake, according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel. It will be a five-year deal that will see him face the Panthers plenty of times before it runs out.

DeVries is fresh off a first-round loss to Washington State in the 2024 NCAA Tournament but he's built an impressie career with the Bulldgos. The former Northern Iowa standout as a player has won 20 games or more in each of his six seasons at Drake. He's led the Bulldogs to two Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles and one regular season title and made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Pitt will host games against DeVries and his Mountaineers at the Petersen Events Center during the 2024-25 and 2026-27 seasons and make return trips to the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia during the 2025-26 and 2027-28 seasons. 

The Panthers captured their first win in the Backyard Brawl since 2012 early last December. Blake Hinson made a school-record nine 3-pointers in an 80-63 victory for Pitt at the WVU Coliseum. 

The Panthers are 89-101 all-time against West Virginia and own a 56-36 record in games played in Pittsburgh. Pitt has won seven of the 12 matchups played at the Petersen Events Center.

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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