The transfer portal dominos have begun to fall for West Virginia, and three players on the Mountaineers are going to “wait it out” before making a decision to transfer.
Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers reports, “Jose Perez, Rae Battle, and Jesse Edwards will wait things out and see who WVU hires as the next head coach… All three will wait and see before making any type of transfer decision.”
Adam Zagoria added that if Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting Jay Kuntz — who has been the catalyst for this top transfer portal class — is not retained on the staff next year that they will also plan to transfer. Zagoria also said “many players can still be retained.”
Perez was the very first addition to this class, added in 2022, but had to sit out after his waiver request was denied. Perez averaged 18.9 points per game at Manhattan in 2021-2022, and left after head coach Steve Masiello was let go. Battle and Edwards both came to WVU this offseason. Battle spent two seasons at Washington before spending the last two at Montana State.
Battle averaged 17.7 points per game in 35 games played at Montana State this past season. Edwards is a talented big who was brought in by the staff this offseason after he spent the last four seasons at Syracuse. Edwards averaged 14.5 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game for the Orange last season.
Three players in Kerr Kriisa, Tre Mitchell, and Joe Toussaint have already entered the transfer portal, but all have the option to stay at WVU. Reports indicate all three could stay at West Virginia depending on who the new hire is. Athletic Director Wren Baker is expected to announce a hire for the vacancy by Monday, according to sources.
Josh Eilert, DerMarr Johnson, and Kuntz have been key on the staff this offseason with Eilert being Huggins’ top assistant this past year, and Johnson being a fresh face brought in for recruiting purposes, who had success in the NBA.
