The West Virginia basketball roster has certainly undergone some changes.
And more are likely to come.
The Mountaineers have 12 scholarship players after adding four players and retaining the services of Jose Perez after he entered the transfer portal but losing Omar Silverio when his waiver was denied by the NCAA.
Since Josh Eilert was tabbed to lead the program for the 2023-24 season the Mountaineers have lost forward Tre Mitchell to Kentucky, point guard Joe Toussaint to Texas Tech, forward Mohamed Wague to Alabama and forward James Okonkwo to North Carolina.
Each of those decisions was triggered when Bob Huggins resigned from his post following a DUI arrest that sent the basketball program into a tailspin given the timing in June. Players had a 30-day window to enter their names into the transfer portal and the fall out certainly impacted the roster.
To put it simply, there aren’t a lot of impressive options that enter the transfer portal at this time outside late graduates which meant major programs were going to be involved with NIL opportunities.
It was inevitable from the moment that Huggins stepped down from his post, but the key was trying to keep the overall losses as small as possible given the fact that it’s hard to replace players at this stage.
For the same reasons that those players became so highly recruited by other schools when they left West Virginia, many of the players that are still left in the portal are undergoing some of the same situations or have question marks that need to be addressed.
That means sorting out those options while trying to maintain as much as possible.
West Virginia did secure commitments to remain with the team from the key off-season additions in center Jesse Edwards, point guard Kerr Kriisa and guard RaeQuan Battle while the rest of the roster was able to remain in place outside the aforementioned departures.
West Virginia has added four pledges in Florida State guard Jeremiah Bembry after he did not appear in a game this past season due to injuries, St. John’s forward Quinn Slazinski, international forward Ofri Naveh and Georgetown forward Akok Akok. The Mountaineers also were able to keep Jose Perez in the fold.
Bembry took an official visit to campus during the July 8 weekend and committed shortly after to give the Mountaineers their first pledge since the coaching change. He has four years left in his career and will provide backcourt depth.
Slazinski committed to the program after reentering the transfer portal after following his head coach Rick Pitino to St. John’s. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field prior to a season ending injury derailed the year after just seven games. The year before that Slazinski started 23 of his 33 appearances and averaged 8.4 points.
Naveh is a 6-foot-7 forward that can score in a variety of ways by getting to the rim and finishing. He was highly productive U-18 European Championships, were averaged 10.8 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assists over five games. He also shot 55-percent from two, 46.2-percent from three and 73-percent from the line.
Akok entered the transfer portal after graduating from Georgetown where he spent only one season with the Hoyas. He started 31 total games last season for the Big East program where he averaged 6.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. He spent three years prior to that at Connecticut and will be immediately eligible.
Keeping Perez in the fold also is significant given the fact that he has been with the program for a year and averaged over 18 points per game during his last season on the court. Granted it was at Manhattan but finding that level of proven production is a tall task looking elsewhere in the transfer portal at this stage.
For now, West Virginia has one spot to fill in order to reach the 13-scholarship limit. The Mountaineers have already made the decision to move the trip to Italy back a year from this summer to place all focus on the roster. The Mountaineers also are awaiting waiver decision on Battle as well after Silverio’s was denied which ended his career.
Still, now guard becomes a priority with Silverio not being able to suit up this coming season.
West Virginia has contacted a number of players and there will be others emerging as well given the fact that players are now graduating which can allow them to enter into the transfer portal without any penalty and be immediately eligible.
