West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge is forced to largely rebuild the Mountaineers basketball roster and the transfer portal will play a role in that.
This is a collection of players that have either been contacted or have ties to Hodge.
Edwards started his career at Miles College where he redshirted before moving onto Dodge City C.C. where he was a NJCAA first team All-American and the 2023 Kansas Jayhawk Conference Player of the Year after averaging 21.9 points per game and shot 53-percent from the field and 41-percent from three. Then transferred to North Texas where he played under Hodge and was a first-team all-American Athletic Conference selection averaging 19.1 points per game and knocked down 81-three pointers, the sixth most in school history for a single season. Edwards elected to transfer yet again to Vanderbilt where he averaged 17 points and 2.0 rebounds per game while hitting 43-percent of his shots and 35-percent from three earning third-team all SEC honors. Edwards entered the transfer portal yet again and will be an interesting target.
A West Virginia native and the two-time Player of the Year in the state, McKneely has spent three seasons at Virginia where he has improved in every campaign. After averaging 6.6 points per game as a freshman that number has climbed to 12.3 and 14.4 this past season. A strong shooter, McKneely has shot 42-percent from the field over his career and an impressive 42-percent from three. Was a target of West Virginia during his initial recruitment and the Mountaineers will get another crack after he elected to enter the transfer portal with one season remaining.
Conerway started his career at Grayson College and then moved to Ranger College where he was the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Men’s Player of the Year in the JUCO division and NJCAA D-1 Men’s Basketball All-American First Team after averaging 15.7 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 34.4 percent from three. Conerway has spent the past two years at Troy where he averaged 11.8 points in his first year before that jumped to 14.0 in his second along with 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 47-percent and 27-percent from three.
Moore started his career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M where he was an NJCAA D-I All-American after averaging 21.3 points and 5.2 assists per game. Moore then spent two years at Murray State where averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in year one and 9.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in year two. The New York native spent last season at Norfolk State where he started all 28 games and averaged 18.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 57-percent and 39-percent from three. Has one year of eligibility left.
Brown spent two seasons with the Knights where he averaged 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while starting 17 before seeing his numbers jump significantly this past season. During the 2024-25 campaign Brown started 31 of 32 games and averaged 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 45-percent from the floor and 30-percent from three. The Mountaineers have contacted Brown.
Obioha spent his first two seasons at Niagara and averaged 10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, in 26.6 minutes per game in his second season before transferring to UNCW. During his lone season there, Obioha moved into starting lineup all of the conference season and he averaged 10.3 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 64.8 percent from the field. Has one year of eligibility remaining.
Fulks started his career at South Carolina State where he spent one season and averaged 6.9 points, 3.2 assists and 1.8 rebounds. Fulks then moved to Dodge City C.C. where he was named an NJCAA Second Team All-American after averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals a game, shooting 55.4 percent overall and 41.5 percent from beyond the arc. Fulks spent two years at Louisiana Lafayette where he averaged 9.2 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.9 rebounds a game in the first and 10.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game in the second.This past season Fulks was at Milwaukee where he started all 32 games and averaged 14.6 points, 5.9 assist and 3.0 rebounds. West Virginia has made contact.
Lorient spent two years at Florida Atlantic where he was a rotational player in his first two seasons before transferring to North Texas where he was a significant jump in his overall production this past season. Lorient was chosen as an American Athletic Conference First Team All-Conference and was voted as the AAC Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists and over 1 block per game. Lorient hasn't entered the transfer portal yet, but will be a key target if he does.
Newell started his career at California where he spent two seasons. As a freshman, Newell started 28 of 31 games and averaged 8.0 points and 3.9 rebounds earning all-Pac 12 honorable mention honors. Newell then averaged 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 41.3-percent from the floor and 30.4-percent from three. The Illinois native then elected to enter the transfer portal where he ended up at North Texas and started all 35 games while averaging 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. Newell hasn't entered the transfer portal yet, but will be a prime candidate if he does.
Floyd started his career at Northwest Florida State College and then moved to Hillsborough College where he was voted a team captain. Floyd started all 26 games and averaged 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. The Maryland native then moved to Fairfield where he started 35 of 37 games and averaged 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game and had a +2.0 assist/turnover ratio. Floyd then moved to North Texas where he has started all 35 games and averaged 8.8 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 42-percent from the field and 34-percent from three. Has experience in Hodge's system and would be a candidate if he did enter the portal after playing at the junior college level.
Western Kentucky guard Don McHenry
McHenry started his career at Hawaii Hilo where he started all 26 games and was named to the All-PacWest Third Team while averaging 15.2 points per game. He then transferred to Indian Hill C.C. where he averaged 15.4 points per game while shooting 46-percent and 36-percent from three being named a NJCAA DI First-Team All-American. McHenry then transferred to Western Kentucky where he has spent the past two seasons averaging 15.1 points per game in year one and then 17.0 this past season. The Milwaukee native should have one year left.
Central Connecticut State guard Devin Haid
Haid initially played at Notre Dame College (OH) where he scored 15.9 points per game and averaged 5.6 rebounds per game. The Ohio native also shot 49.4 percent from the field overall and 36.9 percent from three-point range. Transferred to Central Connecticut State where he was named All-Northeast Conference Second Team after averaging 14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He also shot 49.3-percent from the field and 31.8-percent from three.
UT Martin guard Tarence Guinyard
Guinyard spent only one season at UT Martin where he averaged 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 44-percent from the field and 33-percent from three. The Tampa native spent two years at Florida State College at Jacksonville where he scored 1,302 points (20.7 per game), 347 rebounds, 209 assists and made 154 three-pointers. Guinyard has one season of eligibility remaining and has heard from West Virginia already this off-season.
Florida Tech guard Donovan Brown
Brown is coming off a season where he averaged 20.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 45-percent from the field and 36-percent from three. The Illinois native spent time at Waubonsee CC where he led the team in scoring at 17 points per game to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists earning all-conference honors.
California State University, Northridge forward Keonte Jones
Jones started his career at Mineral College where he earned NJCAA All-American honors after registering 12.0 points per game on 66.3 percent shooting to go with 5.6 rebounds per game. He followed that up by averaging 12.1 points on 58.3 percent shooting to go with 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Jones then played at Midland College for a season where he had marks of 17.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He spent two seasons at CSUN where he started 64 of 67 games. After averaging 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds in his first year that jumped to 13.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. The Wisconsin native has heard from West Virginia.
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