As the Mountaineers continue to prepare for Darian DeVries’ new era of men’s basketball, two of WVU’s new faces are gaining interest from college fans.
NCAA recruiting account HS Top Recruits sparked a discussion on X on Sunday, ranking its top 15 incoming Big 12 transfers for 2024-2025. Placing in sixth and 10th respectively were senior guards Tucker DeVries and Javon Small.
DeVries, the son of West Virginia’s newest head coach, comes to Morgantown alongside his father from Drake, where he averaged 21.6 points in 35.5 minutes per game last season. DeVries also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.6 steals for the Bulldogs in their run to the NCAA Tournament.
The reigning back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year has been mentioned in early mocks for the 2025 NBA Draft. DeVries measures at 6-feet-7, 210 pounds.
Javon Small comes to WVU from elsewhere in the Big 12 out of Oklahoma State. Already familiar with Big 12 competition, Small was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention last season, despite playing for the second worst team in the conference standings.
Small averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and one steal per game last year. WVU will be Small’s third jersey in his collegiate career, as he spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at East Carolina. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18 games with the Pirates in 2022-2023.
West Virginia’s talent got its first taste of action earlier this month in Italy. The Mountaineers will debut their new talent and style of play on Oct. 18 at home in an exhibition game against Charleston.
