While playing three games in three days can sound tiresome for some coaches, West Virginia men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries looks forward to a postseason-type atmosphere when his Mountaineers take on No. 3 Gonzaga to tip off the Battle 4 Atlantis from The Bahamas on Wednesday.

“I love [multi-team events] for that reason because it gives you kind of a preview of the Big 12 Tournament,” DeVries said following the Mountaineers’ 86-43 win over Iona on Nov. 20. “So you get a little feel for that tournament type environment, that tournament feel of seeing how guys respond after a night. They’ve guaranteed these three games, but we’re gonna have a real good idea — like a maybe we need to sub a little bit more — or whatever it might be, and be able to get some feedback from this tournament.”

DeVries, who made the move down to Morgantown, West Virginia, after guiding Drake to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons, has a lot to learn about his team before they head to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Big 12 conference tournament in March. Along with a new environment, DeVries brought in an entirely fresh batch of faces for his first year at the helm of the Mountaineers men’s basketball program, which went 9-23 (4-14 Big 12) under Josh Eilert in 2023-24. West Virginia’s transfer portal class, headlined by Darian’s son Tucker DeVries (21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds at Drake last season) ranked No. 15 in the country according to EvanMiya.com.

Through the first four games, Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small leads the Mountaineers at 15.5 points per game and is one of four guards expected to start against the Zags. The senior guard led the way with 23 points in the victory over the Gaels, as West Virginia went 15-of-31 (48.4%) from the 3-point line and held its opposition to just 14-of-59 (23.7%) from the field, including 5-of-19 (26.3%) from distance. 

While winning by 43 points is quite the response to a 24-point loss against Pittsburgh, DeVries knows his team not only had room to improve, but that his players look forward to the challenges that come with facing the Bulldogs.

“It’s an opportunity,” DeVries said. “I mean it’s a great game for us, a great challenge for us. We understand between now and next week, when we toss it up in The Bahamas, we got to get better at some things and we know that we’re not going to be a complete fix by next Wednesday, but we got to continue to grow as a team in certain areas. And I think our guys are pretty motivated to do that and just continue to get better.”

Gonzaga (5-0) enters the matchup coming off an 84-41 victory over Long Beach State at home last week. The Bulldogs already boast victories over No. 17 Baylor (101-63), Arizona State (88-80) and San Diego State (80-67) and rank No. 1 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.com. Five players average 11 or more points, led by 6-foot-9 forward Graham Ike at 14.6 points.

The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will take on either No. 14 Indiana (4-0) or Louisville (3-1) on Thanksgiving Day at 9 a.m. PST on either ESPN or ESPN2. The consolation game will be at 11:30 a.m. PST.

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The West Virginia Mountaineers picked up another commitment in the 2025 recruiting class Monday evening, securing a pledge from offensive lineman Jahmir Davis (6’6″, 305 lbs) out of LaSalle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Davis also held an offer from Marshall and interest from Iowa State and Illinois.

Davis took a visit to Morgantown over the weekend and with his announcement, he became the 22nd recruit to commit to WVU this cycle, and the fourth offensive lineman to do so, joining Amir Leonard-Jean Charles, Gavin Crawford, and Eidan Buchanan.

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For just a half second, things were starting to look a little hairy for the West Virginia Mountaineers and their chances of reaching a bowl game. Over the weekend, they took care of the visiting UCF Knights to collect that key sixth win of the season, punching their ticket to a bowl game.

Now the question is, where will the Mountaineers land?

With just one game remaining in the regular season, WVU can’t really increase its bowl stock all that much. Right now, it’s more about not falling further down the totem pole.

While it is extremely unlikely, there is still a “path” for the Mountaineers to the College Football Playoff, believe it or not. And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with having five quality losses. That’s sarcasm, by the way. WVU can still make the Big 12 title game but needs several unlikely upsets to happen in the final week of the regular season. If the unthinkable happens and WVU gets to Arlington and wins the Big 12 title, boom. The Mountaineers are in the CFP at 8-5.

On the more realistic side of things, West Virginia will likely end up at either the Independence Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, or First Responder Bowl. For a team that had legit aspirations of making the College Football Playoff at the start of the year, landing at one of the aforementioned destinations is quite the disappointment, with all due respect to those bowls.

Nonetheless, the Mountaineers still have an opportunity to finish the year with a 6-3 mark in Big 12 play for the second straight year with a win over Texas Tech on Saturday.

Action Network: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Army

Athlon Sports: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Tulane

CBS Sports: Gasparilla Bowl vs. Florida

College Football Network: SERVPRO First Responder Bowl vs. East Carolina

College Football News: AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. Arkansas

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Navy

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Oklahoma

Sporting News: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Arkansas

USA Today: SERVPRO First Responder Bowl vs. Oklahoma

West Virginia On SI: AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. Vanderbilt

1. Valero Alamo Bowl vs Pac-12, Saturday, Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m. EST, ABC

2. Pop-Tarts Bowl vs ACC/ND, Saturday, Dec. 28, 3:30 p.m. EST, ABC

3. TaxAct Texas Bowl vs SEC, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m. EST, ESPN

4. AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs SEC, Friday, Dec. 27, 7:00 p.m. EST, ESPN

5. Guaranteed Rate Bowl vs Big Ten, Thursday, Dec. 26, 5:30 p.m. EST, ESPN

6. Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Pac 12, Saturday, Dec. 28, 9:15 p.m. EST, ESPN

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