The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Basketball
Darius Theus
- Title:
- Director of Player Development
Pronunciation: THEE-us
Director of Player Development, 1st season at Texas
A former point guard at Virginia Commonwealth University under Shaka Smart, Darius Theus begins his first season as the Director of Player Development at The University of Texas. Theus began his new position on April 20, 2017.
The 27-year-old Theus served as the Men’s Basketball Director of Student-Athlete Development at VCU during the 2016-17 season. In that role, he focused on the off-court development of VCU men’s basketball student-athletes. The Rams registered a 26-9 mark (14-4 Atlantic 10 Conference) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament First Round last year.
During his four seasons playing under Smart at VCU (2010-13), Theus helped lead the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Final Four in 2011. VCU compiled an overall record of 111-37 (.750) in Theus’ four years, winning at least 27 games in each of his four seasons. He is the all-time winningest player (111 victories) in school history.
Theus ranks third in school history in career steals (237) and sixth in career assists (462), and his 85 steals as a senior in 2012-13 rank fourth on the VCU single-season chart. He earned a spot on the 2013 Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team in his senior season.
As a junior in 2011-12, Theus earned Third Team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) honors and claimed CAA Tournament Most Valuable Player accolades while leading the Rams to the tournament championship. He capped off the league tournament run with a 16-point, 5-assist, 5-steal performance during the 59-56 win against Drexel in the championship game. In the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, Theus hit a floater with 18 seconds remaining to seal a 62-59 win against No. 5 seed Wichita State in Portland.
Born Dec. 1, 1990, Theus is a native of Portsmouth, Va. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from VCU in 2013. Following graduation, Theus played professionally for Aris Leeuwarden (2013-14) in the Dutch Basketball League (Holland), SC Rasta Vechta (2014-15) in Germany and Rent4Office Neurnberger BC (2015-16) in Germany.
He has a daughter, Laila Theus.
