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Ofri Naveh Commits To Staying At WVU, Forgoes Transfer Portal

The transfer portal is officially closed and after several weeks of consideration, West Virginia forward Ofri Naveh announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he will return to the program for his sophomore season.

Blue & Gold ♾️ pic.Twitter.Com/RcFgTO2S8L

— Ofri Naveh (@OfriNaveh) May 1, 2024

Naveh was a late addition to the roster last summer, committing to WVU on July 28th and signing with the team on August 9th.

Naveh averaged 11.0, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in the FIBA U18 European Championship last year in seven games with Israel, shooting 54% from the field, including 47% from 3-point range and 67% from the free throw line.

During his first season with the Mountaineers, Naveh appeared in 24 games (seven starts) and averaged 2.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game while shooting 29% from the floor and 27% from three-point range. He had his best outing of the year against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, scoring 11 points on 5-of-13 shots. He also recorded four rebounds and three assists.

Naveh is the only player from last year's team to stay put. Football defensive back Aden Tagaloa-Nelson joined the team midway through the season, but his future with the basketball team is unclear at this point.

Naveh will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Josh Eilert Is Looking Ahead As He Departs WVU Following Turbulent Season As Interim Coach

Do not picture Josh Eilert's home as desolate or bare.

There are still pictures on the wall, dishes in the cupboard.

"We've got a few boxes packed up here and there," Eilert said. "If something were to happen quickly, if we get a call, then we're ready."

There is no other way in Eilert's mind to describe his situation other than to say he's ready.

"The best way I can put it is we don't know what's going to happen next," he said.

Two months ago, Eilert was the interim head coach of the WVU men's basketball team, a dream opportunity that came with a lot of fine print, so to speak.

"Looking back on it now, I was a little naive when I first took the opportunity," Eilert said. "I really was ready to make the most of it, and I was thinking 20 wins and going to the NCAA tournament. I really thought we could do all of that, but then all of the challenges just kept coming. It was a tall task."

A task that ended with a 9-23 season, and on April 30, Eilert's contract worth $1.5 million with the school will have officially run its course.

No regrets

The news became official once the Mountaineers had returned from the Big 12 tournament in that WVU athletic director Wren Baker announced he was going to begin a search for a full-time replacement for the 2024-25 season.

On March 24, the school hired Darian DeVries and signed him to a five-year deal, essentially ending Eilert's run with the program, although he remained under employment with the school.

"I actually left him a note on the desk saying if he needed anything to give me a call," Eilert said. "We met later at the Pines (Country Club), he happened to be there the same day as me and he put his hand on my shoulder and introduced himself.

"The next day, we spent about two hours talking. He's level-headed and down to earth. What you see is what you get from him. I think he's going to be a good fit with the school."

Eilert's tenure covered far more than one season as the interim head coach. He spent 17 years in Morgantown, first moving here in 2007 when he came along with Bob Huggins from Kansas State.

In those 17 years, Eilert continued to work his way up, beginning as a video coordinator before being promoted to director of operations and then an assistant coach.

"We've been very fortunate to put down our family's roots here," Eilert said. "That first year when we played in Phoenix in the Sweet 16, my wife was eight months pregnant with our oldest (Brendan) at the time.

"Our three kids know nothing but Morgantown. The fact that we haven't had to move around a lot, which you see happen a ton in this business, we've been pretty lucky."

Was it unlucky then for Eilert to be a face of the 2023-24 season? Perhaps, but he doesn't see it that way.

"To those looking in from the outside, I understood how many thought this could be a career killer, that it was a no-win situation," he said. "To me, honestly, it was a no-brainer."

In the span of eight months, Eilert was charged with keeping the program afloat following the resignation of Huggins after his DUI arrest last June.

Eilert refers to those early days as, "cleaning up the mess," and if that had been the brunt of the challenges Eilert faced, he believes last season could have been a different story.

But that wasn't the only obstacle thrown Eilert's way, far from it.

Before preseason practices had begun, Jose Perez was removed from the roster for a violation of team rules. Not long after that, point guard Kerr Kriisa was suspended nine games by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits while at Arizona.

RaeQuan Battle was never officially cleared by the NCAA to play. The senior forward only gained that right in December once he became the face of a federal court case that has since become the foundation of the NCAA now allowing all college athletes to transfer multiple times without restrictions.

"It was inevitable," Eilert said by text message about the NCAA's changes to its transfer policies. "RaeQuan was just the one to be on the front lines."

More adversity came with forward Akok Akok collapsing to the floor during an exhibition game and missing part of the season with a medical condition.

In December, senior forward Jesse Edwards fractured his wrist and didn't return to action untilJan. 27.

Those obstacles were public. Eilert said there were other situations that weren't commonly known.To this day, he still elects to keep those private, but it all added up.

"I understood that it was important to not publicly shatter the illusions that the public had about the situation, so I never alluded to the complicated reality," Eilert said. "I also knew that I wanted to protect the program that I had given so much to, the athletes from any more drama and the fans from the turmoil that plagued us every second of my tenure."

Through it all, Eilert continued to push the thought that WVU would not take on the role of a victim, yet the program never truly got out of the starting gate, either.

The 23 losses were the most in one season in school history.

"One thing I want to get out there is I'm not a guy to hold a grudge," Eilert said. "I have no ill will toward WVU and am very thankful for the opportunity that Wren gave me. He was nothing but great to me, my family and the program.

"I knew the situation going in, especially when interim was up on the big screen in those big letters when we held that first press conference."

Moving on

As the month of April is heading into May, Eilert knows the number of college basketball job openings — either as an assistant or otherwise — are getting smaller by the day.

On the record, Eilert says he is still exploring opportunities.

Behind the scenes, Eilert worries that those 23 losses charged to his coaching record obscure his overall resumé.

"I'm not trying to say I am John Wooden or anything like that, but it's not fair to assess me on this one season," Eilert said. "To those on the outside, I can see how it looks this way, but I'm not sure if I'm being judged by 23 losses to those inside basketball.

"If I am judged that way, it's got to come with some sort of asterisk, because we were kind of against the eight ball the entire season. I believe most people recognize that."

Eilert's coaching staff of Da'Sean Butler, Alex Ruoff and Jordan McCabe are also still searching for their next opportunity.

"Da'Sean is the one I fear the most I left hanging," Eilert said. "He came here on a leap of faith."

Eilert is 43. Minus some time spent putting his college degree of marketing and finance from Kansas State to use working as a loan officer, the bulk of his life has centered around basketball.

After such a frustrating year, why not simply say that's enough?

"In college basketball, the highs are so high and the lows can be really low, but all of it brings you in," Eilert said. "It's like a drug, it's addictive. My passion is with college basketball, and I'm not ready to give up on it."

His dream remains to once again be a head coach, a real one and not an interim.

"From the start of last season, we spent more time salvaging relationships than anything else," Eilert said. "We didn't really have the luxury of building from the ground up. That would be the dream for me is to one day take over a program and have that type of opportunity to really build something.

"We got to bring in some different pieces, but from Day 1, it was more about damage control. I'd like to one day get that chance where it's just about basketball."

Kerr Kriisa The Latest To Join Kentucky Men's Basketball

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Adding to the backcourt, Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope announced on Thursday that Kerr Kriisa (pronounced KREE-suh), a 6-foot-3 veteran guard who has played at both Arizona and West Virginia, will transfer to Kentucky ahead of the 2024-25 season. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.

Kriisa, who hails from Tartu, Estonia, played three seasons with Arizona before transferring to West Virginia for the 2023-24 campaign. This past year, Kriisa averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds for the Mountaineers across 23 games played. For his college career, Kriisa has averaged 9.7 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 99 total games, including 93 starts.

"Kerr Kriisa is one of the best shooters in the country," Pope said.  "I feel like I've been recruiting him for the last five or six years since he was a prep player. He is one of the most experienced guards in all of college basketball. Kerr played on some great Arizona teams and then, last year, in the hallowed halls of West Virginia. He has a competitive spirit that overflows in every way conceivable. Kerr will have a massive impact on our team on the court and in the locker room. Kentucky fans are going to love his bold personality."

Kriisa made a large impact from the start during his year in Morgantown. He poured in 20 points and dished out seven assists during his WVU debut vs. Massachusetts, his first of four 20-point efforts on the season. Against Toledo, Kriisa registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, becoming the first West Virginia player to have 10 or more assists in a game in five years.

The guard continued to prove himself in conference play, going off for 21 points and six made 3s on the road at Oklahoma State, before scoring 23 against Pope's BYU squad in early February. He erupted for a career-high 25 points on the Mountaineers' trip to Kansas State later that month.

For the season, Kriisa finished with 13 double-figure scoring efforts, 18 games with at least three assists and 11 outings with three or more 3s.

At Arizona, Kriisa was a game-changing facilitator, leading the Pac-12 in assists during both his sophomore and junior seasons. He was the first player to lead the league in assists in back-to-back years since Brandon Granville of USC in 2000 and 2001. A capable shooter from outside, Kriisa finished his time at UA ranking 10th in program history with 177 made 3-pointers. He also became one of just five players in Pac-12 history to record multiple triple-doubles in a career, joining Jason Kidd, Andre Iguodala, Loren Woods and Luke Jackson. Kriisa recorded his first triple-double during the 2021-22 season, notching 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Utah. He followed that up during his junior season with 14 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against Southern.

During his three years in Tucson, Kriisa and the Wildcats went a combined 78-20, won two Pac-12 tournaments, one Pac-12 regular season title and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including receiving a No. 1 seed in 2022.

Prior to college, Kriisa spent time playing for Prienai CBet and Zalgiris II Kaunsas in Lithuania. He has experience playing with the Estonian national team and was a driving force behind the nation's first-ever win over the Lithuanian national team in the summer of 2020.

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