Looking at 2024 West Virginia basketball recruiting
New West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries must now turn his attention to building the roster for his inaugural season in Morgantown.
So, what's next with the roster?
DeVries inherits some players but it's unclear how much roster movement could shake out in the coming days and weeks.
The new head coach has already added his son Tucker DeVries, who is coming off back-to-back years as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, as well as Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee in KJ Tenner.
With so much that can change between now and when the dust settles on this class it's impossible to predict what the class size will ultimately look like but what we can do is examine what targets that could be on the list.
Official visit: April 12-14
Wright is a name that makes sense on this list considering that he has already transferred once to play for DeVries. The California native started his career at California State University, Northridge where he averaged 16.7 points per game before transferring to Drake last season. Finished second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game while shooting 40-percent from three. Wright has one year of eligibility remaining in his career and is the type of transfer that makes sense. Took an official visit to West Virginia from April 12-14.
Official visit: April 12-14
Okani is coming off a season where he averaged 11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. That led him to declare for the NBA Draft while entering the transfer portal to explore his options. With one season of eligibility left, Okani took an official visit to West Virginia from April 12-14 and is an intriguing 6-foot-8 wing. Has narrowed his list down to West Virginia, LSU, Virginia, St. Bonaventure and Pepperdine.
Townsend is coming off a very impressive campaign where he earned Horizon League Player of the Year as well as first-team all league. He averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists as an impressive all-around option. Townsend will draw the interest of schools across the country after entering the transfer portal and could be on the short list for the Mountaineers to inquire about.
The Brooklyn native spent three years at Hofstra and is coming off his best season on the floor averaging 10.4 points, 6.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds. A true point guard, Carlos has already been contacted by West Virginia and is on the list of several different schools as he could be a asset from the transfer portal.
Harris spent two seasons at Illinois but redshirted this past year. The Ohio native played in all 33 games as a true freshman and even started seven of those averaging 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He also shot 43-percent from the floor and 32-percent from three. The former four-star prospect is looking for a fresh start and could be a name to watch moving forward just given some of the ties.
Hansberry spent only one season with Illinois where he appeared in just 19 games. In only 7.5 minutes per contest, Hansberry averaged 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45-percent from the floor. There are some ties here and Hansberry was a highly recruited high school option out of Maryland where he averaged 15.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior and earned Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year. He will have three years of eligibility remaining in his career.
Tonje spent four seasons at Colorado State where he scored 1,051 points in the process. He also shot 45.2 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from 3-point range during that time. Transferred to Missouri last season where he only appeared in eight games averaging 2.6 points after sustaining a foot injury. The Nebraska native will have one year of eligibility left and has already heard from the Mountaineers.
A former junior college prospect at Dodge City, Freeman spent two years at Milwaukee where he proved to be a reliable scoring option. During his first year, Freeman averaged 18.2 points per game on 40-percent shooting and increased those totals to 21.1 points per game and 42-percent in year two. Freeman has a number of suitors already and the North Carolina native will have one season of eligibility remaining.
Ausar spent two seasons at East Carolina and the Georgia native is coming off a campaign where he averaged 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 51.4-percent from the field and 37.5-percent from three. He appeared in 64 games during his time with the Pirates starting a total of 44 of those and entered the transfer portal looking for a new destination. Ausar will have two years of eligibility remaining and has already been in contact with West Virginia along with many others.
Conwell started his career at South Florida where he made 21 starts as a true freshman and averaged 5.1 points per game. Transferred to Indiana State where his play took off this past season averaging 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 48-percent from the field and 40-percent from three. The Indiana native has two years left in his career and entered the transfer portal at the end of the year. There are obvious ties here given the fact he played in Missouri Valley Conference.
Biliew was a five-star prospect in the 2023 class and is a native of Iowa. However, in his first year with the Cyclones, Biliew was limited to just 7.5 minutes per game. That resulted in modest stats with 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds. Biliew has entered the transfer portal and is an interesting candidate given his Iowa ties and the fact that he can guard any position and finish above the rim makes him intriguing.
Carr started his career at Delaware but transferred to Wake Forest where he is coming off a season where he averaged 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The Pennsylvania native has one season of eligibility left and is a big that shot 52-percent from the field as well as 37-percent from three.
Brickus spent four years at LaSalle where he appeared in 119 games. The Pennsylvania native is coming off a season where he averaged 13.9 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. Brickus shot 43-percent and 40-percent from three. He has one year remaining in his career and has already been contacted by West Virginia.
Oweh spent two seasons at Oklahoma where he appeared in 60 games and started a total of 37. The New Jersey native entered the transfer portal this off-season and almost tripled his scoring output from his first season at 11.4 points per game. Oweh also grabbed 3.8 rebounds per game and shot 49-percent from the floor and 38-percent from three. Oweh has two years of eligibility remaining in his career.
Mitchell started 71 of his 72 college games over his two seasons at Texas and saw his numbers take a jump this past season. This year he averaged 9.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and a steal while shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Mitchell was a highly recruited prospect during his initial recruitment and the Florida native should have plenty of suitors with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Bilodeau spent two seasons with Oregon State where he saw his numbers make a significant jump. After starting 13 games as a freshman where he averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds, he started all 29 this past year averaging 14.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. The Washington native has two years of eligibility remaining and would fill a need as a big that shot 54-percent from the field and 37-percent from three last year.
Harris started his career at Charleston Southern where he spent 61 games and was named to the Big South second-team after averaging 17.4 points and 2.3 assists. Elected to transfer to Boston College and in his lone season with the Eagles translated well averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 40-percent from the field and 37-percent from three. The Louisiana native has one year left in college.
Walters spent one season at Alabama where he appeared in all 37 games. The former four-star averaged 5.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the Crimson Tide and entered the transfer portal looking for a new destination. The Florida native would have three seasons of eligibility remaining in his college career.
Elijah Malone - Grace College
Malone was selected as the 2024 Bevo Francis Award winner and the NAIA National Player of the Year. Malone averaged 17.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 63-percent from the floor and 37-percent from three. Malone showed improvement in all four of his seasons at the college level and now has entered the transfer portal looking to make the most of his final season.
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