Small a critical piece to the West Virginia roster
The Javon Small signature watch is now over.
The Oklahoma State transfer initially committed to West Virginia on May 1, but several weeks had passed without Small signing with the program. That ended Monday when he inked with the Mountaineers following an official visit to campus and gives the program a critical piece for next year.
And that’s a big development for a lot of different reasons.
Ranked as one of the top point guards available this off-season, Small has already been battle-tested in the rough and rugged Big 12 Conference with impressive results.
Small is coming off an impressive lone season with the Cowboys 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-point range. He scored in double figures 24 times over the course of the year.
Those type of efforts earned him honorable mention accolades in the league and made him an in-demand piece in the transfer portal for many major programs across the college basketball landscape.
Kansas, Texas, Miami, Mississippi, Michigan, Louisville, Villanova and Oklahoma were just some schools among a long list of suitors that expressed interest in the impressive transfer guard after he entered his name into the transfer portal in March.
West Virginia got a taste of what he can do when he dropped 15 points on 5-6 shooting with 12 rebounds and 7 assists as the guard had his hands in all phases of the game. He finished this past year shooting 50-percent at the rim, 51-percent from midrange, 87-percent from the line and 37-percent from deep.
Small also finished ninth in the Big 12 in defensive rebounds at 4.35 per game making him a fit for what head coach Darian DeVries wants to do on defense as well as getting out in transition.
“We are excited to have Javon joining our program,” DeVries said. “He is a tremendous playmaker at both ends of the floor. He has a great feel for the game and can hurt you as a scorer and a facilitator.
So, the basketball pedigree is there and on top of that Small becomes an immediate counterpart to two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Tucker DeVries and the other pieces of the roster.
Landing the younger DeVries is obviously a massive piece to this roster build and isn't to be overlooked by any means, but given the connections there being the head coach’s son this one tends to hit a little bit differently.
The impact was felt when the Mountaineers immediately announced the signing ahead of the official release showcasing how significant locking things up was for the program.
The Mountaineers now have 10 scholarship players in tow for next season with a nice blend of experience as well as youthful upside with potential. There are still some more pieces left to round out the roster but the addition of Small, at least formally, will only help to further attract additional pieces from the portal.
West Virginia is putting things together with the roster but it was apparent that Small was a big part of that.
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