Taking a look at the West Virginia commits that could follow Darian DeVries to Indiana

Indiana basketball has a new leader of the program with former Drake and West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries coming to Bloomington.

Earlier this week, DeVries was officially announced as the new Indiana head coach. Since then, there has been a little activity when it comes to shaping out next year’s roster. When it comes to the transfer portal, Indiana currently has Malik Reneau and Gabe Cupps in there from last year’s team and from West Virginia, Darian DeVries’s son Tucker put his name in there and is coming to the Hoosiers.

When it comes to high school recruiting, it is confirmed right that now that 2025 four-star forward Trent Sisley is still signed with the Hoosiers whereas international guard Harun Zrno will be re-opening his recruitment while also still considering the Hoosiers.

However, what about the players that were committed to West Virginia before Darian DeVries left for Indiana? Before the shakeup, West Virginia had three commits and a Top 25 class in Kelvin Odih, Trent MacLean, and Braydon Hawthorne.

As of this current writing, both Odih and MacLean have requested their release while nothing has been reported as of yet with Hawthorn.

Let’s take a look at each player and break each of them down.

Kelvin Odih

The first player that we are looking at is the highest-rated signee that WVU had before the Devries departure. Odih is rated as the No. 64 ranked player for 247Sports and is a native from Rhode Island. He was the Rhode Island Player of the Year in 2023 before he transferred to SoCal Academy in Castaic, California for his senior season.

Odih was the first player to ask for his release from his WVU National Letter of Intent thus reopening his recruitment. He had offers from schools such as Creighton, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville, Penn State, Rutgers, Texas A&M, and other before he chose WVU.

Scouting Report from Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports:

“Odih is imposing on the perimeter because of his strength, physicality, athleticism, and motor. He plays with an attacking mentality and extreme force on both ends of the floor.

He can really standout on the defensive end of the floor. He’s very aggressive guarding the ball, able to apply a lot of pressure, and force turnovers. Even when he gets a bad angle initially, he constantly tries to be physical and fight his way back into the play. He would flourish in up-tempo, pressing systems, but his combination of perimeter size, mobility, and strength allows him to be very versatile and switchable in the half-court as well. He is also an exceptional perimeter rebounder, on both ends of the floor, with a quick second bounce.

Offensively he can get downhill in the open court, finish above the rim with explosiveness and power alike, get second chance points, and bully most defenders both off the dribble and by bringing them into the post. He’ll even turn his own dribble drives into post-ups at times. He’s also shown some instincts as a cutter. He’s made strides with his shooting and overall ball skills, as well as his understanding of spacing and how to play in offensive structure, but those continue to be areas of potential development.”

Trent MacLean

MacLean is the latest player out of the 2025 WVU class to ask for his release, doing it just about 24 hours ago. A native from Castaic, CA, he is the son of UCLA legend Don MacLean and played at the same high school as Kelvin Odih at SoCal Academy.

He is rated as the No. 141 prospect in the 2025 class for 247Sports and is a 6-foot-9, 195-pound power forward. Before choosing to go to WVU, MacLean had offers from schools such as Rutgers, Saint Mary’s, Arizona State, and others.

Scouting Report from Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports: 

“MacLean is a late-blooming perimeter forward who appears to be on the verge of a major ascension. Best described as a stretch-four from a positional standpoint, he has a terrific combination of size at 6-foot-9 and skill. He shoots it very well from the perimeter, with soft touch and good loft on his ball. He has clear gravity as a spot-up threat, is valuable in pick-and-pop action, and, most recently, is progressing into a true movement shooter who can come off screens and make tough shots, when he is on balance. He also moves without the ball, and cuts extremely hard, for a player his size.

While his ability to shoot from long range is his best asset at the moment, MacLean also has a good overall feel for the game. He understands how to play without the ball in his hands, stays in pretty constant motion, and is a solid passer within the flow of the offense. He’s also active on the glass and has had some games where he’s shown flashes of being a high-volume rebounder.

Physically, he’s just now starting fill-out what is turning out to be a very solid frame. He has big shoulders and and the type of frame that could look vastly different after a couple of years in a college weight room. With consistently evolving pace and physicality, and yet still so much physical upside left to discover, his game is likely going to keep ascending in correlation to his body.”

Braydon Hawthorne

The last player we are looking at is the only player that is still committed for WVU, Braydon Hawthorne. Him still bing committed to WVU comes as little surprise with him being a native of the state of West Virginia.

He is rated at the No. 71 prospect according to 247Sports and before choosing to stay home and play for WVU, Hawthorne had offers from schools such as Ohio, Florida Golf Coast, Wichita State, Old Dominion, an others.

Out of the three players that WVU had committed before the DeVries departure for Indiana, Hawthorne is the player that is likely to stay at WVU and not follow DeVries to Indiana.

Scouting Report:

Hawthorne is a taller wing at 6-foot-9 with a lot of versatility in his game. He has a very lanky frame and score very well off the catch.

Not the quickest wing you find in the 2025 class or the strongest, but he does take advantage of his length being able to score over smaller defenders.

He can also defend both the wing and post and makes it very difficult for anyone to score over him. He is an interesting prospect that could be developed into a very good, versatile scorer.

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