West Virginia’s Javon Small continues to impress not only the Mountaineer fanbase, but the country with his stellar performances. The senior has been named Big 12 Player of the Week three times this season and has appeared on various watchlists. Small ranks high with some of the conference’s toughest players.
Small has started every game from the start of the season averaging 35.9 minutes played with 19.5 points, a jump from his previous season at Oklahoma State with an average of 33 minutes played and 15.1 points scored. Adding to his stats, Small averages 5.1 in both rebounds and assists in the 2024-2025 season.
In one of his first standout matches of the season, Small put up a season-high 31 points and led the Mountaineers to a win over No. 3 Gonzaga at the time. 12 of his 27 points were from behind the arc and his 9-11 free throw rate pushed the team to victory in overtime.
More recently, Small was the backbone in the Mountaineers’ win against No. 2 Iowa State. The senior almost matched his season best, putting up 27 points and shooting 100% in free throws. Small is a test to other talented conference players including Kansas center Hunter Dickinson and Arizona guard Caleb Love.
Dickinson reeled in many preseason honors such as joining the AP Preseason All-America First Team and appeared on plenty of watchlists, although his stats are lower than Small’s in almost every category.
Just as Small, Dickinson has started every game of the 2024-2025 season but averages only 15.8 points and shoots 23.1% behind the arc compared to Small’s 33.9%. Dickinson overpowers Small in the rebounds category with 10.2 on the season, mainly because of his height, but falls with 2.4 assists. Small was able to shut down Dickinson in their regular season matchup this season.
Love is another familiar name in the Big 12. Similar to Dickinson, Love was seen on various preseason watchlists and earned AP Preseason All-America honors. The Mountaineers are 1-1 with the Wildcats this season. The fifth-year is averaging 15.6 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. Once again, Small continues to outscore the other Big 12 opponents.
With stats like Small’s, he very much could bring the Big 12 Player of the Year award home to Morgantown making him the first basketball player from West Virginia to do so.
