MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When the WVU women’s basketball team opens up the season in November, it is likely that Mark Kellogg will field a roster of eight newcomers and five returning players. As summer practices continue, starting guards Jordan Harrison and Sydney Shaw return while six new players are acclimating to Kellogg’s system.
“They are living up to what we thought,” Kellogg said of his new players. “We haven’t had any negative surprises, like oh we missed in a certain area with a portal kid. They have been what we thought they were. First off, they are great kids with great character. I think we have that piece in place so we can continue where we left off there a year ago.”
Kellogg and his staff must find three new starters after the graduations of Kylee Blacksten, Kyah Watson and Dallas Wings guard JJ Quinerly. WVU’s third all-time leading scorer is thriving in her rookie season in the WNBA.
“When [Quinerly] got drafted, it really hit me. That’s when there was some finality to it. There’s been times and we even said when we were doing our stretching in the first two practices — they always kind of stretch in the same spot and you look and there is no JJ, there’s no Watson.”
“With [Quinerly] being such a big part of the team, you feel that hole missing,” said Shaw. “But I feel like we’re doing a good job of filling it up. She is doing great where she is and I am supporting her from here.”
Kellogg has posted back-to-back 25-8 seasons in his two years leading the Mountaineers. The program has built a recognized brand of uptempo offense built on an aggressive pressure defense. Kellogg says the full defensive principles won’t be fully put in place until preseason practice opens in the fall.
“I don’t think we will change. We’ll have to maybe tweak a few things. That’s fairly normal. But it has pretty much been the same for two years,” Kellogg said.
“We are recruiting to that and they know what they are walking into. We haven’t put that whole system in yet so they haven’t seen even the half of it. We do that on purpose in the summer just to not wear them out and it is such a long year. We’ll wait to put the full thing in. But some of them, I think, are excited for it. Some of them know they want to take a step in their skill development and player development.”
Harrison has played all three of her college seasons for Kellogg after transferring in from Stephen F. Austin two years ago. She averaged 13.7 points per game last winter and led the team with 148 assists.
“She is in complete control,” Kellogg said. “But I thought she was most of the time last year. She just works. I think she is shooting it at the best clip that she has ever shot. I think her confidence is at an all-time high. I just think you are going to get a kid that is very relaxed and feels really comfortable here. She really likes her teammates and keeps telling me how much this group is getting along in the locker room and off the court.”
Among the six newcomers, five are college transfers. Junior forward Carter McCray previously played at Wisconsin and Northern Kentucky.
“No one can take a rebound from Carter,” Shaw said. “It absolutely blows my mind because she is not overly sized. But she is overly strong. She has been really impressive to me.”
“Rebounding is my forte and that’s what they have me here for. I just go after it every day in practice, trying to grab as many rebounds as I can. I know that is my strength,” McCray said.
“I want the ball and I want an extra possession for my team. That’s the thing I know I can do great and I know I can contribute to the team.
“It is always difficult leaving a place you called home for a year. I have made so many great relationships at my past schools. We keep in touch. I have been really adaptable. I moved a lot of times in the past when I was younger. It has been a smooth transition.”
Two Big 12 transfers, who saw West Virginia’s unique defense in person last winter, are excited to be on the other side of it now. Texas Tech transfer Loghan Johnson and Houston transfer Gia Cooke have joined the program.
“Being on the opposite end of it, you spend the whole week prepping for it. Then you get in it and you are here in the Coliseum, it is just completely different when you are under that pressure. That’s something I always commended West Virginia on. I am really excited to now be a part of it, take my defensive prowess and add it into the system,” Johnson said.
“West Virginia was probably my favorite team to watch on the outside of the Big 12. I was really excited when I got the call. The gears were already turning in my head and I came to this decision really quickly.”
“When they played us, it was just the defense, how hard they went and just the intensity on both ends,” Cooke said.
“The defense, the full court press, how fast they move, I like to get up and down real quick and just get out and get my teammates involved. I think they did really well with that, especially against us at Houston.”
Norfolk State transfer Kierra Wheeler, Butler transfer Riley Makalusky and freshman Madison Parrish are also newcomers on the roster. In addition to Shaw and Harrison, Sydney Woodley, Jordan Thomas and CC Riviere return.
Seven players garnered most of the minutes last year for the Mountaineers. That’s in part because Kellogg was able to use the same starting lineup in 32 of the team’s 33 games. Kellogg expects to go deeper into the bench this year. He also expects two more players may be officially added to the roster soon.
“This is the deepest team we have had since we’ve been here. We can go probably ten or eleven deep now, which maybe we haven’t been able to do quite as much in years past.”