Jill Devries - Head Coach
Jill DeVries is in her 14th season as the Head Coach of the Viking women’s basketball program. She has guided the program to back-to-back NAIA National Tournament appearances (2010-11 and 2011-12.) Along the way the Vikings posted a record 23 win season and Dakota Athletic Conference Tournament championship (2010-11.) She has coached 16 all-conference performers, four Honorable-Mention All-Americans, and 24 Academic All-Americans.
DeVries was the 2011 recipient of the DAC Coach of the Year as well as having been nominated by the DAC for the NAIA Coach of Character. The Coach of Character Award is given annually to a coach who demonstrates methods of teaching character through sport and instills a tradition of athletic and community excellence.
Prior to arriving at VCSU, DeVries served as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. In her tenure at UNK the Lopers were 52-8, two-time RMAC champions, advancing to the North Central Region tournament both years.
DeVries’ college coaching career started at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay as a graduate assistant under Carol Hammerle. While at UWGB, the Fighting Phoenix advanced to the NCAA DI national tournament for the first time in school history.
DeVries played her college ball at North Dakota State University where she was captain of the 1990-91 Bison national championship team. During the ’90-’91 DeVries was selected Women’s Sports Federation All-American and All-North Central Conference. She was also honored by being named to the 1991 Final Four all-tourney team. In 2007, DeVries was inducted into the NDSU Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2011 her 1991 National Championship NDSU women’s basketball team was the first women’s team to be inducted into the NDSU Hall of Champions.
A Glyndon, MN native, DeVries was a two-time Class A All State selection while at Glyndon-Felton High School. In her prep career, she earned all-conference honors five times for basketball.
DeVries earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physical Education from North Dakota State University (1992) and a Master’s of Education also from North Dakota State University (1997).
Assistant Coach
Lavesa Glover begins her first season as the top assistant for Valley City State University Women’s Basketball program.
Glover comes to the Vikings after spending last season as the Director of Basketball Operations for the UW-Milwaukee Women’s Basketball program.
Prior to UW-Milwaukee, she played professionally, spending time with teams in Finland, Poland and, most recently, Australia. In her final professional season, Glover played for the Southwest Slammers, averaging 19.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 66.7 percent from the field.
Glover was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner at UW-Green Bay from 2005-09. She was an All-League Second-Team performer as a Junior and was selected to the First Team as a Senior.
With the Phoenix, she played in the NCAA Tournament all four years. She scored 1,054 points and pulled down 447 rebounds while shooting 51 percent in 122 career games for Green Bay, leading the team in scoring as a Senior.
A native of Miami, Fla., Glover majored in Electronic Media/Communications at Green Bay and graduated in 2009.
