Are They the Favorites?
(St. Louis, MO) – Drake’s Darian DeVries is enjoying unparalleled success as Drake’s head coach. During his first four seasons the Bulldogs have won 95 games, one conference championship and he has accumulated two Valley Coach of the Year awards.
His roster is likely to be the league favorite and is filled with veterans. Drake returners have accumulated a lot of Missouri Valley Conference hardware. Guards Roman Penn, D.J. Wilkins and Garrett Sturtz are utilizing their ‘covid year’ to grow their Des Moines legacy and sophomore wing Tucker DeVries will likely be the league’s preseason ‘Player of the Year’.
Penn and Wilkins have battled injuries, but when healthy they have been highly productive. The 6’1 Penn has been named to all-league teams three times in three seasons, including being named to the Valley all-newcomer team in 2020. While Wilkins landed on the all-freshman team of 2019, last season he was named to the all-defensive team.
Sturtz is the picture of exceeding expectations. As a college walk-on he has been named to two, all-bench team honors and last season was a Valley second-team all-star. Oh, and he earned a scholarship.
The younger DeVries is poised to be a dominant type of Valley player. Last season he was the league’s outstanding freshman and was named to the MVC all-newcomer team and was second-team honoree.
Are they the favorites? DeVries pushes those notions away, but he likes his team.
Here is our entire conversation with Darian DeVries, Wilkins, Sturtz and Tucker DeVries.
The Bulldogs open the season with a home game against IUPUI.
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
