WVU’s Staff Pivots Focus to RaeQuan Battle After Grill, Hugley Recruitments

In just a couple of days, West Virginia’s basketball staff was able to pivot quickly to focus on Montana State transfer guard RaeQuan Battle. The staff got Battle to visit Morgantown over the weekend hours after contacting the All-Big Sky First Team recipient.

The transfer portal moves in waves, so it seemed as if West Virginia was going to sit back for a little bit after Caleb Grill and John Hugley went elsewhere last week. But, not yet.

Enter Battle.

WVU’s Director of Recruiting Jay Kuntz made contact with Battle last Thursday and was able to schedule a visit for the senior guard the next day. Battle arrived in Morgantown on Saturday and left on Monday.

The two-time transfer did post a picture on his Instagram story with a West Virginia geotag.

Montana State transfer RaeQuan Battle has arrived in Morgantown pic.twitter.com/FZ2bUhgs6j

— Ethan Bock (@ethanbock_) April 22, 2023

There’s no update at the moment as to how Battle’s visit went. Battle has received interest from many other Power-5 programs including Alabama, Arizona, Cal, Clemson, Louisville, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Texas Tech, UCF, UCLA, Wake Forest, Washington and others during his first week in the transfer portal.

West Virginia was Battle’s first visit and so far his only reported visit as of Tuesday afternoon. It’s unknown whether or not Battle will take any other visits or not.

Battle (6-foot-5) was at Montana State for two years after beginning his collegiate career at Washington. Battle started in all 35 games this past season, averaging 17.7 points on 47 percent shooting from the field, 35 percent from three and 83 percent from the free throw line. The Tulip, Wa. native scored 27 points against Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Battle would be another great get for WVU in the transfer portal this offseason. Battle is ranked in the top 40 in his transfer class, coming in the top 10 out of the guards, according to On3.

Battle isn’t the only player WVU’s staff has focused on after Grill and Hugley. Tennessee F Olivier Nkamhoua and Florida State C Naheem McLeod were contacted in the last few days. No visits for either have been scheduled in the meantime.