2024-05-14 08:04:00
The basketball roster is beginning to come collectively for West Virginia.
That was fairly the project for brand new head coach Darian DeVries, as he was principally charged with placing collectively a wholly new roster when he took over in March.
The Mountaineers will solely return one participant from the 2024-25 roster in sophomore Ofri Naveh and he was restricted to only 13.8 minutes per recreation which was simply 2.6 factors and a pair of.5 rebounds.
Which means nearly your entire manufacturing from final season’s crew has left both via commencement or the switch portal with seven gamers leaving this system via the database.
A few of these have already dedicated to different faculties with level guard Kerr Kriisa to Kentucky, ahead Patrick Suemnick to DePaul, guard Kobe Johnson to Saint Louis, captain Josiah Harris to Akron and guard Seth Wilson to Akron. In the meantime, guard Noah Farrakhan and guard Jeremiah Bembry are nonetheless trying to find their subsequent locations, however is not going to be returning to Morgantown.
As for the incoming gamers, DeVries and his teaching employees have been lively within the switch portal that fills out the vast majority of the roster to date.
It began with Tucker DeVries, two-time Missouri Valley Participant of the Yr. The son of the top coach, the versatile ahead averaged 21.6 factors, 6.7 rebounds and three.6 assists for the Bulldogs final season and averaged 18.6 factors, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per recreation the earlier yr.
This can be a good place to begin for any roster as DeVries is an skilled choice who has clearly performed within the system and been profitable. He is undoubtedly a chunk to construct round and that is precisely what DeVries has completed to date with a mixture of skilled and youthful expertise.
On the skilled facet, Oklahoma State level guard Javon Small will play a giant position as a facilitator and scorer alongside DeVries. The Indiana native has been some of the sought-following level guards in your entire switch window and is a stat-stopping, do-it-all choice.
A fair larger bonus is the truth that there will not be any issues regarding how that interprets to the Large 12, as he is already completed so, averaging 15.1 factors, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists whereas taking pictures 44 p.c from the sector and 37 p.c. of three final yr with the Pokes.
The Mountaineers additionally added a chunk the coaches prioritized in College of Illinois-Chicago winger Tony Okani. A participant DeVries was aware of following squaring off towards him within the MVC, the 6-foot-8 ahead is a flexible choice who can fill a number of roles on each ends.
Final season, Okani averaged 11.1 factors, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per recreation whereas incomes Missouri Valley Convention Defensive Staff honors and close to the highest of the MVC in lots of the classes on the defensive finish of the ground.
One other participant DeVries was aware of was Washington State guard Joseph Yesufu, having really coached him throughout his first two years at Drake. Yesufu spent two seasons with the Bulldogs and had his most efficient marketing campaign when he was named the Missouri Valley Convention Sixth Man of the Yr following averaging 12.8 factors, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per recreation .
Yesufu then opted to switch to Kansas the place he appeared in 69 video games however was restricted to only 2.1 factors per recreation within the freshman and 4.1 within the second earlier than transferring once more to Washington State. There he performed in simply six video games earlier than a hip harm value him the remainder of the yr.
Relating to the frontcourt, the coaches have added one piece in Fresno State heart Eduardo Andre. The 6-foot-11, 248-pounder began 18 of the 20 video games he appeared in final season, averaging 7.3 factors and 5.0 rebounds whereas taking pictures 60 p.c from the ground. Nevertheless, a knee harm reduce his season brief, however the yr earlier than he was averaging 8.3 factors, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per recreation whereas taking pictures 58 p.c from the sector and the final Began 15 video games of the season.
Andre began his profession at Nebraska and is a conventional back-to-the-basket huge who actively rebounds the ball and is an efficient screener and curler to the basket.
All of these gamers have only one yr left of their careers, however the Mountaineers have additionally been actively including gamers with years left. A pair of former high 100 recruits from Illinois in ahead Amani Hansberry and guard Sencire Harris every have three years remaining.
Hansberry was the Mayland Gatorade Participant of the Yr as a senior, however was restricted to only 7.5 minutes per recreation in a loaded Illini frontcourt. Nonetheless, he was productive averaging 2.4 factors and a pair of.1 rebounds per recreation whereas taking pictures 45 p.c from the ground and with elevated utilization may very well be a candidate to take off throughout his second season with the Mountaineers.
Harris spent two years with the Illini, however solely a kind of was spent on the ground as he redshirted final season to deal with bettering his power and creating his recreation. The yr earlier than, the Ohio native appeared in all 33 video games as a real freshman and even began seven of these, averaging 3.7 factors and a pair of.1 rebounds per recreation. He additionally shot 43 p.c from the ground and 32 p.c from three.
An elite on-ball defender, Harris goes to seek out his means onto the ground primarily based on that alone, however is anticipated to take a leap on the offensive finish as effectively.
The ultimate items are from the highschool ranks in Memphis (Tn.) Cordova level guard KJ Tenner and Centerville (Oh.) 2024 guard Jonathan Powell,
Tenner who adopted DeVries from Drake following requesting his launch from his letter of intent. Tenner, 6-foot, 165 kilos, is bodily on the smaller facet for a high-head guard, however is a confirmed scorer.
Tenner is coming off a season the place he averaged 21.2 factors, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and a pair of.5 steals per recreation en path to changing into Mr. Basketball in Division 4A in Tennessee.
Powell, 6-foot-6, initially signed with Xavier in November however requested his launch and issues moved rapidly with West Virginia when he took an official go to simply days later. That journey will result in his dedication giving this system a proficient guard with size who can hit pictures in addition to defend a number of positions.
The primary-team All-Ohio choice averaged 19.1 factors per recreation final season and had a variety of high-level scholarship affords earlier than selecting the Mountaineers.
It is actually a greater place than it was when DeVries took over this system, however there’s nonetheless work to be completed to spherical issues out to make the Mountaineers aggressive within the Large 12. The Mountaineers nonetheless lack a scorer and one other huge, amongst different items, however you’ll be able to see how the image comes into focus in the case of the basketball roster for subsequent season.
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