West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg is entering his second season with far less turnover than he experienced a season ago when he took over.
The players that were expected to leave the team due to eligibility did. Just one player transferred out and the Mountaineers were able to not only add a pair of transfers but were able to ink their first prep recruiting class under Kellogg.
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What does it all mean for a team that reached the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals and the NCAA Tournament last season? We’ll see.
In this edition of Portal Thoughts we review where West Virginia is now and what it has left to do.
West Virginia’s Losses (4)
The Mountaineers lost four players, three of which exhausted their eligibility and one of which is no longer on the roster.
Guard Lauren Fields, who transferred in from Arizona before the season, was WVU’s third-leading scorer and averaged 9.2 points. Guard Jayla Hemingway, a long-time Mountaineer, accepted a bench role in her last season and averaged 6.2 points. Forward Tavy Diggs played in 31 games off the bench and averaged 4.6 points.
Guard Ainhoa Holze was on the roster last year but is not on the Mountaineers’ 2024-25 roster.
West Virginia’s Transfer Losses (1)
Forward Messiah Hunter is the only loss through the transfer portal. She left after the season and landed at Seton Hall. She played 21 games for the Mountaineers and played 6.9 minutes per game. She averaged less than two points.
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West Virginia’s Transfer Gains (2)
The Mountaineers brought in a pair of transfers, one of which played in the SEC last year.
Guard Sydney Shaw joins the Mountaineers from Auburn, where she averaged 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds while playing 21.5 minutes per game. She was the Tigers’ second-best 3-point shooter and has two years of eligibility remaining.
Célia Rivière is a forward who played her first two seasons of college basketball at Northwest Florida State. Last season she averaged 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. He was named an NJCAA Second Team All-American while leading Northwest Florida State to a national title.
West Virginia’s Recruiting Gains (2)
The Mountaineers pulled two incoming freshmen, the first two prep recruits of Kellogg’s tenure.
Guard Destiny Agubata from Santiago High School in Moreno, Calif., was a four-star player and No. 78 in the country per ESPNW. She enrolled early after she averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds in her senior season.
Jordan Thomas is a forward from Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. She was ranked right behind Agubata at No. 79 in ESPNW’s Top 100. She scored more than 1,000 points in her first three high school seasons.
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Set to Return (8)
The Mountaineers will have their top two scorers returning from last season. Guard JJ Quinerly averaged 19.8 points and was one of the conference’s top defenders, along with Jordan Harrison, who averaged 13.9 points and had one fewer steal than Quinerly.
Two other starters are back — guard Kyah Watson (8.0 points, 6.4 rebounds) and forward Kylee Blacksten (6.1 points, 2.6 rebounds).
Two other returnees that played last year are back looking for more playing time — forward Danelle Arigbabu and guard Tirzah Moore.
Guard Ashala Moseberry redshirted last season after two years with South Plains College.
Guard Zya Nugent is also back after missing all of last season due to injury. She played for Kellogg at SFA. She hasn’t played since 2021-22, but that season she averaged 12.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
What’s Left?
It looks like the Mountaineers might have one more scholarship to give this summer. They could use it on an impact transfer in the frontcourt, where they need a little more depth, or on a third prep player they could redshirt and develop. Given the consistency WVU returns, the playing time and rotation looks fairly set.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
