Senior Transfer Erik Stevenson Ignites Fire in New Team

“I love it here.”

Senior transfer Erik Stevenson hasn’t taken long to get acclimated to West Virginia basketball, and he’s already making his mark on the team.

“It’s been a great transition. Obviously you guys know I’ve had to transition a lot in my college career, so they're making it easy to transition here and make it feel like home. They let me come in right away and insert my personality on the team and it’s just been a great fit, great transition, and we’ve had a great summer,” said Stevenson.

A player described by teammates as, “ready to run through a wall”, it’s no wonder Stevenson is meshing well in Bob Huggins’ high intensity system.

“One, he’s a really tough kid, and two, defensively he's pretty good. And he's just competitive, he's just so competitive. He raises the level of our practice, because of his competitiveness,” praised Huggins.

Stevenson is a player who’s been on Huggins’ radar for quite some time, dating all the way back to 2019 when WVU battled Wichita State in the Cancun Challenge, a game in which Stevenson boasted a game high 22 points against the Mountaineers.

“I had a good game, they beat us, but it was a good game. I think that’s where Huggs kinda got his first look at me, his first taste of how I like to play and operate,” said Stevenson.

Since his two seasons at Wichita State, Stevenson has done two single season stints with two different teams, one of which being with the Washington Huskies, back in his home state.

Most recently, Stevenson competed with the University of South Carolina under head coach Frank Martin, a team he planned on finishing out his career with. The firing of Martin, however, prompted Stevenson to enter the transfer portal once more, seeking his fourth school in five years.

‘It definitely threw a wrench in my plan, being there to finish my career. I think it was a blessing though, for sure,” said Stevenson. “I wanted to throw my money in the basket where I'm playing for a Hall of Famer,” adding, “For my last year I wanted to be somewhere where I know I’m gonna win.”

Looking to put together a winning season in his final year of eligibility, Stevenson is bringing everything to the table, taking on a leadership role despite it being his first season with the team.

“I think he fits in perfect with the team in what he does as a leader for us,” said current teammate and former high school teammate, Emmitt Matthews Jr. “He’s got a fire under him, that’s for sure, but he’s been like that our whole life. Eric is a closed book, but when the book opens you get all the chapters in one page.”

Stevenson and the Mountaineers will get their first opportunity to showcase said fire on November 7th, against Mount St. Mary’s.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan

•Like us on Facebook