WVU Basketball Can Continue to Look at Late Transfer Portal Gems

WVU basketball can finally give the transfer portal a rest if they want to.

Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua chose Michigan over WVU, Baylor and Kansas State earlier in the week. The Mountaineers looked to add Nkamhoua, a top-40 transfer, but that would’ve been the dessert for a good portal class. West Virginia has also contacted Zyon Pullin (G – UC Riverside) and D’Marco Dunn (G – North Carolina) a couple weeks back. But now Pullin and Dunn are both off the board, committing to other schools.

So what does WVU do now?

WVU’s current roster holds 13 players: five incoming transfers and eight returning players. RaeQuan Battle (G – Montana State), Jesse Edwards (C – Syracuse), Kerr Kriisa (G – Arizona), Jose Perez (G – Manhattan) and Omar Silverio (G – Manhattan) are your portal additions with Josiah Harris (F), Kobe Johnson (G), Tre Mitchell (F), James Okonkwo (F), Patrick Suemnick (F), Joe Toussaint (G), Mohamed Wague (F) and Seth Wilson (G) returning to the team.

West Virginia’s staff can do what most staffs are doing around the country. Just wait for a transfer portal gem to fall into place. There are only a select few great players left in the portal, but there are also some rumored players that could enter late into the process this month. Players are still allowed to enter the transfer portal, despite it being “closed.” The student-athlete will have to submit a waiver in order to be eligible to play next season, unless it’s a graduate transfer. If WVU wants to, they can add depth to their already stacked transfer class. Coaching staffs around the country are just waiting to fill that last spot with a late portal player or high school recruit.

West Virginia contacted Rutgers graduate transfer Paul Mulcahy on Friday. Mulcahy spent four seasons at Rutgers, averaging 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists this past year. Mulcahy also shot 37 percent from three.

If no one else pops out to West Virginia, the coaching staff can put full focus on recruiting the 2024 and 2025 high school classes this summer. WVU basketball does not have a commitment for the 2023 class, and they don’t plan on adding one. The coaching staff is recruiting rising seniors and juniors as it’s a crucial time. All Divison-I coaching staffs may directly contact the class of 2025 starting on June 15.

WVU is currently in the running for 2024 4-star G Del Jones, as the Virginia native put them in his top-8. West Virginia is competing against Arizona State, Clemson, Ole Miss, Oregon, Providence, Tennessee and Texas A&M for the 6-foot-2 guard. West Virginia has put all their focus into the transfer portal the last two off-seasons but are showing signs of still wanting high school recruits.