The West Virginia basketball roster build has been quite the journey this off-season, but it took an interesting turn with the most recent addition to the program.
The program has gotten to this point with an aggressive push to attack the traditional transfer portal window that netted the Mountaineers one of the best classes nationally headlined by Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa, Syracuse Center Jesse Edwards and Montana State guard RaeQuan Battle.
Then was dealt an unexpected blow with the resignation of legendary head coach Bob Huggins due to off-the-field issues which opened a 30-day transfer portal window for players to exit. That led to the departures of forward Tre Mitchell, point guard Joe Toussaint, forward Mohamed Wague and forward James Okonkwo and plenty of questions as to what would come next.
Those were answered when former assistant Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach and he and the staff worked to successfully hold the rest of the roster together as well as start the process of adding new pieces to it. And add, they certainly have.
West Virginia added valuable pieces to the roster such as Georgetown forward Akok Akok, Florida State point guard Jeremiah Bembry, St. John's forward Quinn Slazinski and Israel forward Ofri Naveh. Each of those are expected to play a major role, albeit some more than others, this coming season.
However, the latest addition is one that is a little different in Eastern Michigan guard Noah Farrakhan. The 6-foot-2, 162-pound, guard had been in the transfer portal since April, but West Virginia was able to secure his services prior to the deadline for enrollment Aug. 22.
Farrakhan spent two seasons with the Eagles where he averaged 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists and 29 of 32 games this past season. During his first season with the program, he averaged 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 42.6-percent from the field.
With that type of production, what’s the catch? Well, it’s the fact that Farrakhan spent his first year at East Carolina meaning that he would be a two-time transfer coming into the Mountaineers basketball program and would require a waiver in order to be immediately eligible this season.
That’s where things get interesting. Each of the previous additions by the coaching staff have been solely dedicated to this coming season in order to round out the roster and put themselves in a better spot. This is adding a player that likely won’t suit up this year, with an eye to the future.
No, that isn’t an indication on the future of the coaching staff, but it certainly is an indication that the coaching staff is looking toward the future. Farrakhan and West Virginia both will benefit from the arrangement in the sense that it’s a low-risk, high-reward addition that if he doesn’t receive a waiver is going to likely step into a major role the following season.
By having Farrakhan on campus, he will be able to get acclimated with the basketball program and learn the ins and outs of what’s expected. He also is going to be primed to step into a larger role when that time comes and have the confidence of others on the team as well.
This likely isn’t it for the program either as there are still needs to fill but it’s just another plus addition for the Mountaineers as they look to put the finishing touches on the roster as a whole.
West Virginia is looking to address the roster in all angles and Farrakhan is just the latest example of a coaching staff that has continued to look for ways to improve the roster both this year and next.
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