Jalen Bridges, Isaiah Cottrell Vaguely Talk About Transfer Decisions

After West Virginia starters Jalen Bridges and Isaiah Cottrell entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, the former Mountaineers opened up for the first time on social media.

Bridges mentions that name, image and likeness money was not the reason for his departure from West Virginia. Cottrell had a cryptic tweet about what the fans don’t see.

“Happiness > NIL $,” Bridges wrote.

“Y’all really don’t understand and never will,” Cottrell said.

Happiness > NIL $

— jalen (@jalenbridgess) March 17, 2022

Y’all really don’t understand and never will.

— Isaiah Cottrell (@IsaiahCottrell) March 17, 2022

Bridges, a Fairmont native, spent three years at WVU, playing in two seasons and 61 games. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks through 33 games this past season.

Bridges moved into the starting lineup halfway through the 2020-21 season after Oscar Tshiebwe left. Bridges helped the Mountaineers solidify their new lineup in the middle of the season as they earned a 3-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Cottrell spent most of his freshman year on the sidelines, recovering from an Achilles injury suffered back in Dec. 2020. From then, the Las Vegas native completed a full recovery to begin his second year for the Mountaineers. Cottrell started at center for most of the year, averaging 4.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks through 33 games.

Cottrell tells WV Sports Now that he has received interested from about 15 schools so far.