The latest addition to the West Virginia basketball roster in Washington State guard Joseph Yesufu is one that head coach Darian DeVries is already plenty familiar with from his time at Drake.
That’s because Yesufu started his career under DeVries where he spent two seasons with the Bulldogs. During that time, he put together the best year of his career when he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 12.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
But since that time, he has been well traveled.
The 6-foot-0, 180-pounder, then elected to transfer to Kansas where he was used more as a depth piece. During his two years with the Jayhawks, he appeared in 69 games but saw his scoring dip to 2.1 points per game in his first year and 4.1 in the second.
The Illinois native then entered the transfer portal again and ended up at Washington State.
During his lone season with the Cougars, the combo guard was limited to just six games due to a hip injury. However, he started each of those contests and averaged 6.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.8 assists. He also shot 35-percent from three.
Yesufu entered the transfer portal yet again following the end of the season and after taking an official visit to Morgantown made the decision to finish out his career with the coach it began.
Yesufu is an athletic combo guard that can fill a role at the one or the two. He is explosive with the ball and has been a solid spot up shooter throughout the course of his career. Combine that with the fact that he is strong in transition and on the defensive end and the addition just makes sense.
West Virginia wanted to find an experienced option to go with Oklahoma State transfer guard Javon Small in the backcourt and Yesufu can fill that for the Mountaineers.
The roster is now up to 10 total players which leaves three remaining scholarships to fill. The coaching staff could go in a number of directions, but the focus will likely center on a shooter that can space the floor, a big and another wing or potential big to address the rest of the needs.
Yesufu will have one season of eligibility remaining in his college career.
STORY BY KEENAN CUMMINGS
