Transfer Carrigan finally finds his way to West Virginia
Florida International transfer big man Dimon Carrigan is a name that has been on the West Virginia radar long before he ever enrolled at the division one level.
Carrigan, 6-foot-9, 215-pounds, was once a standout at Bunker Hill C.C. a Division III junior college program and caught the eyes of the Mountaineers coaching staff assistant Larry Harrison. There Carrigan averaged 19.6 points, 17.9 rebounds and 7.3 blocked shots-per-game in 14 games for the Bulldogs before moving onto Odessa J.C. a more formidable NJCAA program.
The junior college big man would eventually sign with Florida International after a season where he posted 4.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while blocking 2.7 shots per game across 34 contests.
Along the way he lost contact with the West Virginia coaching staff, but the Mountaineers basketball program was never truly far from his mind.
So, once he entered the transfer portal after two seasons with the Panthers and Harrison and the Mountaineers again expressed interest in didn’t take long for the two to come together. It took only about two days for West Virginia to be in contact and things only picked up from there.
“We talked three times a week and I felt wanted,” he said.
It was a roundabout way to end up in Morgantown, but after publicly committing Monday evening Carrigan is finally set to arrive to play for Bob Huggins only three years after he originally had planned.
“Most don’t know they recruited me while at Bunker Hill so for them to still be interested three years later meant something to me and they have just been very consistent since the beginning,” he said. “Coach Harrison was the main coach talking to me and the message was to come home.”
Carrigan finished this past season with 2.5 blocks per contest a number that paced him as the 18th best overall player in college basketball and if you look at it by percentage he came in at 7th. He also proved to be solid in other departments averaging 6.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 62-percent.
The Mountaineers see many of the same attributes in Carrigan in the shot blocking department as another recent rim protector that suited up for the basketball program.
“They think I’m similar to Sagaba Konate. They love my ability to protect the rim and see me fitting in pretty well in the system,” he said.
The Boston native credits his shot blocking ability to his two years spent playing volleyball in high school and is planning to enroll at West Virginia for the summer session.
While Carrigan announced his choice Monday, he actually committed to the program around a week ago on a zoom call with the coaching staff. The coaches simply asked him if he was ready to get the process over with and he didn’t hesitate at the opportunity to suit up for Huggins.
“I said of course let’s go. I love the energy there and I’m beyond excited to be a Mountaineer,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to be one for a while now and it’s an honor to finally be one. Huggins is a legend and he’s old school and brings a home feeling for all his players. I can’t wait to get there.”
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