West Virginia Basketball Searching For Depth in Transfer Portal

As we near the end of the transfer portal offseason, West Virginia is looking to round out their roster with depth. WVU’s coaching staff recently reached out to a pair of combo guards earlier in the week.

After the addition of RaeQuan Battle of Montana State, West Virginia has focused on rounding out the back end of the roster as the starting five seems to be filled out.

WVSN’s Projected Starting Five For WVU

Kerr Kriisa – G

RaeQuan Battle – G

Jose Perez – G

Tre Mitchell – F

Jesse Edwards – C

WVU’s bench is set to have Joe Toussaint, Omar Silverio, Mohamed Wague, James Okonkwo, Seth Wilson, Josiah Harris, Kobe Johnson and Patrick Suemnick. West Virginia returns 49 percent of minutes and 45 percent of their scoring returning from last season. The coaching staff is finding a balance of adding talented portal prospects and retaining players with eligibility.

West Virginia started looking for more depth when they contacted the NABC D-II Player of the Year RJ Sunahara. Sunahara didn’t end up working out for the Mountaineers as both parties agreed to cancel his scheduled visit last week. Sunahara chose Georgia and WVU went in another direction. Zyon Pullin and D’Marco Dunn are the next two targets for West Virginia.

Pullin (6-foot-4) entered the transfer portal on Wednesday as a graduate transfer from UC Riverside. Even though Pullin entered the portal after the entry window closed, he will be eligible to play next season since he’s a fifth-year senior. Pullin, a two-time All-Big West recipient, averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season. The Pleasant Hill, Ca. native shot 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.

Dunn (6-foot-4) entered the transfer portal last Thursday, leaving North Carolina after two seasons. Dunn was rated a 4-star prospect out of high school. The Tuson, Az. native appeared in 27 games for the Tar Heels this past season, averaging 2.7 points in 10.2 minutes.

Pullin and Dunn are both players that can add to West Virginia’s top transfer class and deepen the rotation more. Last season West Virginia’s bench struggled to show consistency in Big 12 play. WVU head coach Bob Huggins cut the rotation down as the season went on. A foot injury to Wague, that sidelined him for the end of the season, caused WVU to ask forwards to play center.

As of Saturday, West Virginia doesn’t have any scholarship spots available but that doesn’t mean the coaching staff can’t work something out. The goal now is deepening the rotation.