MORGANTOWN — Bob Huggins has once again reached into the transfer portal, this time coming away with former Texas forward Tre Mitchell.
The WVU men’s basketball coach announced Friday that Mitchell had signed a grant-in-aid for next season, although it’s unclear when the 6-foot-9 Pittsburgh native will actually be able to take the court for the Mountaineers.
Mitchell’s college career began at UMass, where he was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 2020. He transferred to Texas last season, using up his one-time free transfer allowed under NCAA rules.
At Texas, Mitchell averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, but he took a personal leave of absence from the team on Feb. 15 and never returned to the Longhorns.
He entered the portal a second time on April 20, before officially signing with WVU.
“Tre gives us a much-needed presence inside who we can throw the ball to,” Huggins said in a press release. “He is a big-time Power 5 starter who is extremely experienced. Tre can score and rebound the basketball, and we are excited to get him here.”
Mitchell still has two seasons of eligibility remaining, but would have to earn a waiver from the NCAA in order to be eligible next season, according to a school spokesman.
Without a waiver, Mitchell would have to sit out one season before being able to play his two remaining seasons.
The signing is also interesting in that the Mountaineers’ roster currently sits at 14 scholarship players. The NCAA limit for men’s hoops is 13.
WVU currently has five returners in Kobe Johnson, Jamel King, Seth Wilson, Kedrian Johnson and James Okonkwo.
The Mountaineers have signed five recruits in junior-college prospects Jimmy Bell, Mohamed Wague and Pat Suemnick, as well as high school seniors in Josiah Davis and Josiah Harris.
Mitchell becomes the fourth transfer added, along with Emmitt Matthews Jr., Joe Toussaint and Erik Stevenson.
Even if Mitchell sits out next season due to NCAA transfer rules, he would still be counted as a scholarship player.
Many roster options are available, but in the end, at least one player expected to be on the Mountaineers’ roster for the 2022-23 season will not be there.
As for the possibilities, there is a chance one of the incoming freshmen or junior-college players aren’t academically eligible to enroll, which would open up a scholarship.
Harris fractured his tibia during his high school playoffs in March, so there is a possibility he plays next season at a prep school rather than at WVU.
As for the signing of Mitchell, the Mountaineers grabbed a player who was ranked a four-star prospect and No. 72 overall in the 2019 recruiting class by Rivals.com.
He played his final two seasons of high school ball in Connecticut, where he was named that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019.
In two seasons at UMass, Mitchell scored 792 points and averaged 18.0 points per game, before transferring to Texas last season.
He started 17 games for the Longhorns, including a 74-59 victory against the Mountaineers on Jan. 1, in which he had six points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.
For his career, he’s made 34% from 3-point range (67 of 198), while also averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.
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