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, Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee in KJ Tenner, as well as Illinois transfers and former four-star recruits guard Sencire Harris and forward Amani Hansberry and UIC guard Tony Okani.
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.
Small spent two years at East Carolina where he showed significant improvement as a sophomore averaging 15.8 points and 5.6 assists in 34.7 minutes up from 2.0 points and 1.1 assists in 9.1 minutes as a true freshman. The Indiana native then transferred to Oklahoma State where he averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 44-percent from the field and 37-percent from three. Small has one season of eligibility remaining and has been in contact with West Virginia about a visit.
Hawkins is a native of Washington, D.C. who began his career at Howard where he started 55 of 59 games and helped to lead the program to their first NCAA Tournament in 31 years. Hawkins then transferred to Minnesota where he spent one season and averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 assists per game while shooting 39-percent from the field and 36-percent from three-point range. Hawkins had originally declared he would be staying with the Gophers before announcing he would enter the transfer portal.
Lanier spent four seasons at North Florida but is coming off his most productive where he averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists. The Tennessee native connected on 51-percent of his field goals and an impressive 44-percent of his attempts from three. Lanier entered the transfer portal in April and will have one year remaining.
Evans was named the SWAC Player of the Year after averaging 18.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39.2-percent from three. The Mississippi native spent four seasons at Jackson State including a redshirt and then entered the transfer portal to a long list of suitors including West Virginia. Evans has one season left.
White spent one season at a Texas junior college before moving onto North Carolina Wilmington. The forward was there for the next three years and saw his numbers jump in each of those seasons with the program. That was capped off this past season where White averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 49-percent from the floor and 39-percent from three. The Texas native would have one season of eligibility remaining and has been contacted by West Virginia.
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.
Started his career at the junior college level and then moved onto Kansas State where he spent two seasons. Then moved onto Texas San-Antonio where he averaged 9.4 points and 5.9 rebounds while starting 26 of 31 games. The Texas native would have one season of eligibility left and has heard from West Virginia.
Davis played two seasons at Chipola College before transferring to Northwestern State. In his lone year there Davis started 24 of 31 games and put together a solid statistical line of 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 40-percent from the field and 39-percent from three. The Georgia native has already heard from West Virginia and would have one season left in his career.
Taylor spent his first two years at Wake Forest before moving onto Georgia State. This past season he saw a significant leap in production starting 31 of 32 games and averaged 14.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 40-percent and 35-percent from three. He has one year of eligibility remaining in his career and is a native of North Carolina. Has already been contacted by West Virginia.
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.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Dell'Orso was named the Big South Freshman of the Year during his first year with the program and followed that up earning second-team all-conference honors this past season. Dell'Orso averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and is an intriguing option in the portal given his size and skill set. He has two years left in his career at the next level.
The New York native spent one season at Manhattan where he averaged 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during his freshman season. The lengthy guard has already been contacted by a long list of schools including West Virginia. Traore will have three seasons left at his next college destination.
Tandy spent four years at Xavier but was injured during his final two years with the program appearing in just 15 games during that span. Transferred to Jacksonville State where Tandy had a breakout campaign starting all 32 games and averaging 17.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Tandy also shot 42-percent from the floor and 39-percent from three. The Kentucky native will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Spent two years at Central Arkansas where he was named first-team all-ASUN in both seasons after averaging 14.1 points as a freshman and 16.7 as a sophomore. Hunter also averaged 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists this past season while shooting 43-percent from the floor, 80-percent from the foul line and 32-percent from three. The Arkansas native entered the transfer portal looking for a fresh start and has already heard from West Virginia. He will have two years of eligibility remaining in his career.
Moore started his career at North Carolina State where he averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and a team-leading 1.4 steals per game over his 25 appearances in his lone season there. Transferred to Mississippi State where he has spent the past three seasons with an average of 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The North Carolina native is an experienced guard that would have one year left and has already been contacted by West Virginia along with other schools.
Taylor spent two years at Oregon State where he played in 62 games and in his second season started 26 of 32. During that sophomore season, Taylor averaged 11.6 points and 3.7 rebounds before he elected to transfer to St. John's. This past season Taylor averaged 4.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists but reentered the transfer portal looking for a new home. Taylor has one year remaining.
Smith started his career at Mississippi State and spent only one season there before moving onto Georgia Tech. After two years, Smith would transfer yet again to Utah where he averaged 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 28 games played with 21 starts. Entered the transfer portal yet again after the season and the Georgia native has one season of eligibility remaining at his next stop.
The Massachusetts native was a highly decorated high school prospect but was limited to just an average of seven minutes per game over his 26 appearances as a true freshman. Power averaged 2.1 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game while shooting 33-percent and 35-percent from three. The versatile forward has three years of eligibility remaining and has already heard from a long list of schools including West Virginia that are banking on his pedigree in a new location.
A Toronto, Canada native Allette appeared in 19 games during his freshman season and led the Monarchs in scoring with 17.4 points per game. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 45-percent from the field and 35-percent from three. Allette was dismissed from the team in late January but entered the transfer portal with three years remaining in his career.
Jalen Speer - Florida A&M
Speer spent two years at FAMU where he was named to the MEAC All-Freshman Team in his first year with 11.9 points and 2.4 assists per game and followed that up with 10.5 points and 2.8 assists per game the following season. Then spent a year at Santa Fe College, before returning and averaging 15.5 points and 4.0 assists on 38.8-percent from three. Speer is a native of Florida and would have one year remaining. West Virginia has made contact with the talented guard.
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. The big 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.
Darnell Evans - Caldwell
Evans spent two seasons at Caldwell where he started all 59 games during his time with the program. After a freshman season where he averaged 18.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game he followed that up by hitting 23.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He also shot 46-percent from the floor and 32-percent from three. The New York native has two years left in his career and is a craft 6-foot-0 guard that has shown the ability to score the basketball.
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