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 inherited one player once the dust settled in forward Ofri Naveh.
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, first-team all-state Ohio guard Jonathan Powell, as well as Illinois transfers and former four-star recruits guard Sencire Harris and forward Amani Hansberry, UIC guard Tony Okani, Fresno State big Eduardo Andre, Washington State guard Joseph Yesufu and Oklahoma State point guard Javon Small.
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.
Hawkins spent four years at Illinois and improved during each of those. The California native appeared in 126 games during his time with the Illini and started 82 including all 68 over the past two seasons. Hawkins averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 45-percent from the floor and 37-percent from three. He has one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer option.
Menifield started his career at Washington where he averaged 10.0 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 41-percent from the field and 33-percent from beyond the arc as a dynamic guard during his true freshman season. The Michigan native elected to leave after a season and ended up at Arkansas. However, he was initially declared academically ineligible and had to enroll as a walk-on that wasn't eligible until December. From there, Menifield appeared in just 14 games until sustaining an injury. He still was productive averaging 7.9 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 38-percent from the floor and 32-percent from three. Menifield then elected to enter the transfer portal again and would have two years of eligibility remaining in his career.
Stone started his career at Grand Canyon where he spent two seasons but then moved onto Detroit Mercy for the past two where his career took off on the floor. Over the past two years, Stone has started 38 of the 39 games he appeared and saw his scoring jump from 13.9 in his first season with the Titans to 20.8 this past year. Stone also averaged 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 42-percent from the floor and 31-percent from three. The Australian native has one year of eligibility 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.
Buggs started his career at Massachusetts where he played in only four games before his season was ended by injury. He then went to Hill College where he earned NJCAA DI Honorable Mention All-America honors before moving onto UTSA where he made 30 starts and averaged 11.0 points per game. Buggs transferred yet again to North Texas where he appeared in 29 games with 26 starts and averaged 7.3 points per game while shooting 45-percent from three. Buggs has one year of eligibility remaining.
Robinson spent four seasons at BYU but is coming off his best campaign where he averaged 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He also connected on 43-percent of his field goals, 91-percent of his free throws and 35-percent of his threes. The Oklahoma native has one season of eligibility remaining in his career and is considered a potential NBA Draft pick given his skill set.
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.
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.
Cooper appeared in just 15 games during his time with the Sooners where he averaged 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds per contest. The Oklahoma native was a four-star prospect out of high school and is a long, athletic option. He would have three years left.
Cook spent three seasons at Fairfield where he appeared in 91 games and started a total of 73 of those including all but one in his last two years. Cook put up 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds in his final season there before entering the transfer portal and ending up at Georgetown. During his lone season with the Hoyas the forward averaged 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He has one season of eligibility remaining.
Parker only spent one season at Alabama where he redshirted but the 6-foot-8 but was a high-level recruit out of Crossroad Academy in Florida. There he earned Florida Class 2A Player of the Year and averaged 24.8 points, 14.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.4 blocks per game during his senior year. Parker is a versatile guard that could potentially fill a number of roles and would have all four seasons remaining.
Brownell spent three seasons at University of Illinois Chicago, although he redshirted during his first with the program. Brownell appeared in 60 games and started a total of 7. During his sophomore season he averaged 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 44-percent from the field and 36-percent from three-point range. The Utah native is a versatile stretch big that has two years of eligibility remaining.
Kelly has spent three seasons at Georgia Tech where he has scored 1,057 points and shot 39-percent from the floor and 35-percent from three during that span. The Georgia native is coming off a year where he averaged 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds. Kelly has one year of eligibility remaining in his career and is also testing the draft waters.
Council spent two years at Monroe College where he scored 1,400 points. Moved onto Wagner where the New York native averaged 14.9 points and 3.5 assists in his lone year in the program. Has one season left.
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