West Virginia looking to continue roster build

The West Virginia basketball roster has certainly undergone some changes.

And more are to come.

The Mountaineers are currently down to nine scholarship players with the possibility of that total growing to ten if senior guard Jose Perez elects to remove his name from the transfer portal.

Since Josh Eilert was tabbed to lead the program for the 2023-24 season the Mountaineers have lost forward Tre Mitchell to Kentucky, point guard Joe Toussaint to Texas Tech, forward Mohamed Wague to Alabama and forward James Okonkwo to North Carolina.

Each of those decisions was triggered when Bob Huggins resigned from his post following a DUI arrest that sent the basketball program into a tailspin given the timing in June. Players had a 30-day window to enter their names into the transfer portal and the fall out has certainly impacted the roster.

To put it simply, there aren’t a lot of impressive options that enter the transfer portal at this time outside late graduates which meant major programs were going to be involved with NIL opportunities.

It was inevitable from the moment that Huggins stepped down from his post, but the key is trying to keep the overall losses as small as possible given the fact that it’s hard to replace players at this stage.

For the same reasons that those players became so highly recruited by other schools when they left West Virginia, many of the players that are still left in the portal are undergoing some of the same situations or have question marks that need to be addressed.

That means sorting out those options while trying to maintain as much as possible.

West Virginia has gotten commitments to remain with the team from the key off-season additions in center Jesse Edwards, point guard Kerr Kriisa and guard RaeQuan Battle. Others have also indicated they will remain with the program as well, such as Josiah Harris.

West Virginia has added one pledge in Florida State guard Jeremiah Bembry after he did not appear in a game this past season due to injuries. He took an official visit to campus during the July 8 weekend and committed shortly after to give the Mountaineers their first pledge since the coaching change. He has four years left in his career and will provide backcourt depth.

Finding a way to keep Perez in the fold also would be beneficial given the fact that he has been with the program for a year and averaged over 18 points per game during his last season on the court. Granted it was at Manhattan but finding that level of proven production is a tall task.

For now, West Virginia has four spots to fill in order to reach the 13-scholarship limit although it’s unlikely that the program meets that total. The Mountaineers have already made the decision to move the trip to Italy back a year from this summer.

Still, some more options that can help in the front court and possibly to round out depth in the backcourt is critical given the recent losses over the past few days.

West Virginia has contacted players such Memphis big man Malcom Dandridge who averaged 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and several others.

There will be others emerging as well given the fact that players are now graduating which can allow them to enter into the transfer portal without any penalty and be immediately eligible.

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