What Are WVU’s Biggest Needs as Roster Fills Out?

West Virginia’s coaching staff has miraculously retooled their roster quickly after a chaotic last month. Most recently, Jose Perez exited the transfer portal, returning to WVU.

WVU now has 11 players on the roster with two scholarship spots to fill. What are West Virginia’s biggest needs with the couple of spots available?

Backup Big(s)

West Virginia has one big man over 6-foot-10 in Jesse Edwards. Edwards, who was a top portal recruit this offseason, averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks for Syracuse during this senior season. After that, WVU could use Iona and St. John’s transfer Quinn Slazinski or returning Pat Suemnick as a backup five.

Edwards will be considered one of the best defenders in the country next season but West Virginia should look to target a backup big man or two to help him out down low.

West Virginia contacted Memphis transfer big man Malcolm Dandridge a couple of weeks back. Dandridge averaged 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.5 minutes but the two parties haven’t gained momentum recently. Expect WVU to be patient and wait for a portal entry to fill the big man spot.

Wing Depth

As of July 22, it can be argued that Josiah Harris is the only true wing player at the three. WVU has a lot of combo guard options like Perez, RaeQuan Battle or Omar Silverio. The two and three positions will be intertwined next season. WVU’s coaching staff should still pursue a player that would be a traditional three.

A player to watch out for is 2023 Israeli forward Ofri Naveh. Naveh is currently in the championship round with his team and will complete his recruitment afterward. West Virginia and Naveh completed a Zoom call last weekend and there’s serious consideration there.

Naveh (6-foot-7) averaged 8.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals in four games during the Adidas Next Generation Tournament. Naveh most recently played for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv’s U18 team in the spring. During his recruitment, Naveh has heard from Butler, Marquette, Overtime Elite, Wake Forest and others.

WV Sports Now will keep you up to date on how WVU fills their roster out.