Indiana basketball hire exposes hypocrisy of coaching change: Do as I say, not as I do

Let me take you to the intersection of hypocrisy and absurdity, where the house of cards has finally, officially crumbled.

Darian DeVries left as basketball coach at Drake after last season, taking the West Virginia job not long after leading Drake to the NCAA tournament. Late Tuesday afternoon, Indiana announced that it had hired away DeVries from West Virginia.

That’s three schools in less than one calendar year.

That’s Indiana paying DeVries’ buyout at WVU, and by proxy, the 2024 buyout WVU paid to Drake.

That’s DeVries trading up from a mid-major job, to a power-conference job, to a super conference blue blood. Each time, receiving a significant increase in salary.

But wait, there’s more: before DeVries agreed to the deal with Indiana, he was negotiating with Iowa.

Playing schools and salaries against the other, trying to find the best deal possible.

Gee, who does that sound like?

Maybe, I don’t know, Dillon Gabriel playing for then-Group of Five UCF, for Oklahoma and finally for Oregon. Or any other multiple-transfer scenario from any other player.

The same transfers and free player movement coaches and administrators say is killing college sports.

Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Doom and Gloom? Hypocrisy, Line 1.

Why are we to believe anything university presidents, coaches and athletic directors say? Why would anyone watch what plays out year after year, sport after sport (including job-jumping athletic directors), and feel any semblance of structural and financial empathy?

DeVries is just another in a long line of coaches who walk away from current jobs for better jobs. Who leave programs after promising universities and players and communities they’re around for the long haul, only to skulk out of town when a better opportunity arises.

And frankly, I have no problem with that. None whatsoever.

But don’t, under any circumstance, hold yourself higher and holier than players who now do the exact same thing within the new player-friendly framework they’ve been given.

Don’t talk about the end of college sports as we know it, or an unsustainable financial structure, or the death of the amateur model and the loss of what’s important in the college experience.

Less than a year ago, DeVries arrived to a packed press conference in Morgantown, West Virginia, and declared, “This place, and the people here, everything about it made sense to me and my family. This was a place that we could see ourselves here for a very, very long time.”

Or 11 months and two weeks. Whichever comes first.

Until the next blue blood desperate to regain glory came calling. Until Iowa and eventually Indiana starting throwing around millions upon millions to go from the unsteady Big 12 to one of the two super conferences of college sports.

But a funny thing happened along the way to job jumping: no one cares. Not the social media cesspool that routinely rips players for a lack of loyalty and the loss of what they believe college sports should be.

And certainly not university presidents and athletic directors, who will continue feed in an unavoidable food chain and take from others below them. Just like WVU did when it plucked DeVries from Drake.

What exactly is the difference between DeVries leaving West Virginia in the Big 12 for Indiana in the Big Ten, and quarterback John Mateer leaving Washington State from the dying Pac-12 for Oklahoma in the SEC?

Both got huge pay raises to do so. Both will immediately be under pressure to win now or else.

One is a coach with the teflon defense of a decades-long system. The other is a player who has unfairly become the definition of greed and gluttony over the last four years — in part, because of a narrative created by presidents, coaches and athletic directors.

If it wasn’t so utterly absurd, it would be tragically comical.

Do as I say, not as I do.

On Wednesday, DeVries stood before a packed press conference in Bloomington, Indiana, and described his vision for Indiana basketball. He embraced the tradition. He said players own the program.

He talked about alignment and fit and function.

“The opportunity came along to be the head coach at Indiana, a dream job for anyone,” DeVries said. “But especially for someone that grew up in the Midwest watching the old Big 8 and Big Ten basketball.”

Three schools in less than one calendar year.

Let’s hope the Kansas job doesn’t open anytime soon.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indiana hire underscores hypocrisy of criticism of player transfers

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