West Virginia has secured another major piece to the roster by pulling guard Jose Perez back from the transfer portal to suit up for the program this coming season.

Perez entered the transfer portal July 5 and was targeted by a number of programs including Michigan and Gonzaga, however after mulling things over will spend his final season of eligibility in Morgantown.

It’s a major win for interim head coach Josh Eilert and stops a series of players exiting the program after the coaching change. Perez is going to be counted on to heavily contribute this season and should immediately step into starters minutes for the Mountaineers.

Perez began his career at Gardner-Webb and spent two productive seasons there before transferring to Marquette. He only played 10 games for the Golden Eagles before transferring yet again to Manhattan where he had a standout 2021 averaging 18.9 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Perez was selected as the MAAC Pre-Season Player of the Year prior to the 2022 season but after his head coach Steve Masiello was fired just ten days before the start of the season, he elected to enter the transfer portal. That took him to West Virginia where he initially applied for a waiver to be eligible at the mid-way point but that was denied and then turned down again on appeal.

There was talk that Perez could possibly forgo his final season of eligibility but elected to return to Morgantown and make the most of his final campaign at the college level.

The experienced guard sat out all of last season but was expected to take on a major role this coming year for the Mountaineers at the two or three spot on the floor.

However, after head coach Bob Huggins resigned Perez elected to enter the transfer portal and explore his options which lasted for a couple weeks prior to making his choice to remain.

With Perez now back in the fold, West Virginia has a total of 11 scholarship players on the roster and a solid core to build around for Eilert and the coaching staff this coming season.

Along with retaining Perez, the Mountaineers have also added transfer additions from Florida State point guard Jeremiah Bembry and St. John’s forward Quinn Slazinski. The coaching staff also was able to keep valuable pieces in the fold such as center Jesse Edwards, point guard Kerr Kriisa, guard RaeQuan Battle and guard Omar Silverio, among others on the roster.

WVSports.com will have more with Perez in the near future.

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