West Virginia continues to piece together the 2024 basketball roster and added a pair of major transfer additions in Oklahoma State point guard Javon Small and Fresno State big Eduardo Andre.
Small, 6-foot-2, 180-pounds, was one the best point guards available in the transfer portal after entering in March and became a priority for the Mountaineers despite heavy interest from a long list of programs.
Kansas, Texas, Miami, Mississippi and Villanova were among that list of programs that were involved but West Virginia was able to secure his commitment giving the program an immediate impact backcourt piece.
The Indiana native is a battle-tested point guard that has already experienced success in the Big 12 after earning honorable mention honors in the league last season. Small is coming off an impressive lone season with the Cowboys where he averaged
15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and
4.1 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 37% from
three-point range.
A high-level scoring option at the point guard spot that can put the ball in the basket off the bounce or in catch and shoot situations, Small also is an effective and efficient passer and creates problems in the pick and roll.
Against West Virginia last season Small scored 15 points on
5-6 shooting with 12 rebounds and 7 assists.
Prior to his time in Stillwater, Small spent two years at East Carolina and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Andre, 6-foot-11, 248-pounds, averaged 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 block per game this past season for the Bulldogs before a knee injury cut his year short at 20 games in January.
But the previous season Andre averaged 8.3 points, 5.9 rebounds 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 58% from the field and starting the final 15-games of the season.
Andre started his career at Nebraska where he appeared in 20 games during his first season and was the first big off the bench in his sophomore season with
3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds on
57% shooting.
The Angola-born product that grew up in England, entered the transfer portal in early April and was committed to West Virginia by the end of the month.
The big-bodied center gives the Mountaineers a seasoned option and one that has already played four seasons at the college level. He is a traditional back to the basket big that is active rebounding the basketball and can finish at the rim. Andre has one year remaining in his career in
Morgantown.
Both players have a connection to Director of Recruiting Nelson Hernandez as he served as an assistant coach at Fresno State in 2022 and was on staff at Oklahoma State last season.
The pair becomes the latest transfer portal additions to the West Virginia roster joining Drake forward Tucker DeVries, University of Illinois-Chicago wing Toby Okani, Illinois guard Sencire Harris and Illinois forward Amani Hansberry. When you add in returning sophomore forward Ofri Naveh and Memphis freshman guard KJ Tenner the Mountaineers basketball roster is now up to eight total scholarships leaving five open spots.
The first roster under new head coach Darian DeVries is taking shape and this week has been some major steps in putting together what the final product could indeed look like.
Keenan Cummings writes for Rivals.com
