WVU Basketball Recruiting

Report: Syracuse Transfer Jesse Edwards to Stay at West Virginia

Published

10 months ago

July 2, 2023

Incoming transfer Jesse Edwards tells CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein that he is staying at West Virginia after the coaching change. Edwards committed to WVU back in April.

“Goin’ nowhere. Time to make this a special year. Let’s go to work for this staff, this team and this place. Let’s go WV,” Edwards wrote on Twitter.

Goin’ Nowhere. Time to make this a special year. Lets go to work for this staff, this team and this place. Let’s go WV❕ pic.twitter.com/qlhEG0c7Ms
— Jesse Edwards (@jesseedwards_14) July 2, 2023

Edwards averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks on 59 percent shooting from the field during his senior year at Syracuse. Edwards was named to the All-ACC Third Team this past season. Edwards has started for the Orange in the past two years. Edwards played seven minutes against West Virginia in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Edwards has one year of eligibility remaining.

Edwards has been regarded as one of the best transfers in the portal this offseason, seeing top-10 and top-5 rankings depending on which site you use. Edwards entered the portal on April 11 and cut his list down to WVU, Gonzaga and Kansas within days. Edwards’ visit to West Virginia was his only one scheduled during his recruitment. Edwards committed to WVU on April 16.

West Virginia has seen four players enter the transfer portal since Bob Huggins’ resignation in mid-June. Tre Mitchell committed to Kentucky; while Joe Toussaint, James Okonkwo and Mohamed Wague are exploring options in the portal. Toussaint and Wague are visiting Kansas State together on Friday. Toussaint has also been linked to Alabama, Gonzaga and Texas Tech. Wague visited DePaul and has other schools interested in him. Okonkwo had 10-plus schools contact him within the first 24 hours of being in the transfer portal, including North Carolina and UConn.

Eilert and his coaching staff have received good news over the last week as incoming transfer guards Kerr Kriisa and RaeQuan Battle showed their intentions of staying with the program. Kriisa transferred from Arizona while Battle comes from Montana State. Both were regarded as four-star transfer recruits.