MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia announced Monday that three sophomores are transferring, including guard Jabarie Hinds, a 26-game starter this past season.
Guard Aaron Brown and forward Volodymyr Gerun also are leaving the program.
Some offseason attrition seemed inevitable with Bob Huggins aiming to retool his roster following the Mountaineers’ 13-19 finish.
Huggins has signed four incoming freshmen and said he is seeking another recruit or two. WVU now has two more scholarships available, with three transfers and three seniors departing.
Hinds is the most surprising departure, considering he started 59 of 65 games in two seasons at West Virginia. The 5-foot-11 Rivals three-star recruit out of Mount Vernon, N.Y., averaged 7.2 points this past season, though his 3-point shooting tailed off to 27 percent and he committed 56 turnovers against 52 assists.
Former West Virginia standout Lowes Moore, who watched Hinds grow up during interactions at the Boys & Girls Club in Mount Vernon, sensed the guard growing frustrated as losses mounted last season.
“I talked to him a lot this season and I told him that nobody likes losing,” Moore said. “He didn’t have a good basketball year, but a lot of people did not play well, especially on the offensive side. It seemed like nobody on that team could put the ball in the basket.”
While unsure if Hinds was unhappy being cast as a shooting guard at WVU, Moore said Hinds knows he must play point guard at the next level “unless he grows four to five inches.” Even as a mentor with strong ties to WVU, Moore said he encouraged Hinds to make a decision based upon his own well-being. He wasn’t sure what transfer destinations Hinds is considering.
“I was happy that he went down there to West Virginia initially, but we have to make our own choices,” Moore said. “I try not to get into that. I guess now he felt like he wanted to change his experience.
“Jabarie’s a great kid, a very humble kid, and he hasn’t changed from high school to college. But during these difficult seasons, a kid must decide whether he wants to stay and try to get better, or he decides, ‘You know what? I just want to move on.'”
As for Gerun, WVU reportedly beat out Maryland when the Ukrainian big man signed in August. Categorized as a sophomore because he spent one season at a university in Europe, Gerun sat out the season’s first six games as an NCAA penalty for appearing briefly in two Ukrainian pro league games.
“It takes a while to adjust to the speed of the game in the U.S., but we think he can play,” said WVU assistant coach Ron Everhart on Aug. 31. “We know he’s a really good shot-maker who can score. He’s an interesting guy. It kind of solidifies our depth and gives us a player who looks like he can rebound and block shots too.”
Even after the NCAA suspension, coach Bob Huggins seemed to like Gerun’s potential as a stretch-4 forward who could pick-and-pop.
“He can make shots — he’s not afraid to shoot it,” Huggins said. “He’s certainly the best shooter of the five (big men). He’s a great kid and he’s going to be a really good player, but I can’t tell you when.”
Gerun subsequently appeared in only seven games, making 3-of-13 shots from the floor.