Meet the WVU Basketball Team: Freshman and Tennessee’s Mr. Basketball KJ Tenner

The Darian DeVries era at WVU kicked off with a fast-paced and dominant win over Robert Morris Monday night in the Coliseum.

Freshman KJ Tenner was one of the 11 new faces to take the court. He logged 16 minutes off the bench, recording 10 points, 2 steals and 3 assists in his debut.

WVU has a history of gaining and developing guard talent, and DeVries looks to continue that role. Like many guards WVU has had in the past, Tenner was not a highly touted recruit. He held mostly mid-major offers and was committed to Drake out of high school. It is apparent that Tenner doesn’t take rankings into account, as his debut told another story.

Tenner is the former Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee, after averaging over 20 points per game in his senior campaign.  Originally out of high school, Tenner was committed to playing at Drake under DeVries. More so, DeVries was the lead recruiter in getting Tenner to Drake.

Image from KJ Tenner’s X account

DeVries always led a high-flying offense during his time at Drake. Minus his son, Tucker DeVries, Tenner was the only other active player or recruit to follow DeVries to Morgantown. Given the style of play DeVries likes, it says a lot that DeVries wanted — and trusted — Tenner to play his college career here in Morgantown.

“I built a great relationship with Coach DeVries (at Drake),” Tenner said. “He asked me to follow him here to WVU, and I’m big on loyalty.  I committed to play for Coach DeVries, and he’s a winner. He’s also very calm when he coaches, and I’m a calm player, so that helped out as well.”

Calm would be the right word for Tenner. It didn’t seem he had the typical freshman nerves for his first career college game, shooting 4-5 from the floor and 2-2 from deep.

“He’s certainly earned our trust,” DeVries said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable… he was very confident and aggressive.”

“(I never) get too high or too low,” Tenner said about his first game. “Regardless 0f what is going on (in the game), I’m always the same and my play style is the same way. I was happy to get out and there compete on this level, and feel I handled myself well.”

WVSN photo/Kelsie LeRose

Tenner handled himself well in his debut as a Mountaineer and will be a promising player to follow as the season and his career go on. Logging the second most minutes off the bench, behind fellow freshman standout Johnathan Powell, could be a sign of the instant offense DeVries wants.  We should expect to see plenty of this duo in the coming weeks in preparation of Big 12 play.

WVU returns to the Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 8 against UMass. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

For a related story, read the recap about the game against Robert Morris.