The West Virginia basketball program made Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa a priority from the moment he placed his name into the transfer portal on March 22.
And those efforts paid off with a commitment from one of the top transfer-portal point guards available Wednesday.
The Mountaineers were one of the first programs to make contact with the Estonian product and that led to an official visit to Morgantown March 25-27. The reasons were obvious as Kriisa is a natural point guard that led the Pac-12 in assists last season.
A 37-percent shooter from the field and three, Kriisa averaged 9.9 points per game for the Wildcats and was looking for a fresh start after spending three seasons with the program. It didn’t take long for the suitors to line up given his credentials of being an experienced starting point guard at the power-five level, with over 75 starts the past two seasons.
The Mountaineers’ efforts were led by Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting Jay Kuntz, and once Kriisa was able to get to Morgantown for his visit he instantly connected with head coach Bob Huggins.
It’s just the most-recent transfer addition this off-season for the West Virginia basketball program, with Manhattan guard Jose Perez electing to return for another year after not being cleared for a waiver last season and another Manhattan guard in Omar Silvero selecting the program prior to the end of the season.
Kriisa will give West Virginia a natural point guard that not only can distribute the ball but hit open shots off the catch or the dribble. He moves his feet well defensively and brings a toughness to the position that Huggins craves.
He selected the Big 12 Conference program over other schools such as Xavier and Nebraska, among a long list of others.
West Virginia made it clear that finding a point guard was a necessity this off-season and Kriisa was firmly planted at the top of that list. Now, even with only one scholarship remaining, the coaching staff still is busy piecing together what the roster will look like next year, but it’s clear that Kriisa will play a major role.
When Kriisa made his announcement he said that he knew all of the words to Country Roads. That’s a good thing because it might be a necessary tool with how things are shaping up with the roster for next year.
BY KEENAN CUMMINGS
TWEET @DomPostSports
