West Virginia point guard Kerr Kriisa is entering the transfer portal after longtime Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins resigned last week, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Friday.
Kriisa was one of the top transfers available on the portal earlier this spring before deciding to move from Arizona to West Virginia. Because of the coaching change, NCAA rules give Kriisa and others a 30-day window to transfer from West Virginia without having to sit out a season or request a waiver.
“It’s been a crazy and busy week,” Kriisa said on ESPN. “I am deeply sorry for the situation as I was really looking forward to playing for Coach Huggins. Huggs will always be my type. I’ve only known him for a few months, but he’s the most genuine man I’ve ever met. He’s the man.”
Huggins officially resigned from his job last week, just a day after he was arrested in Pittsburgh for drunk driving. He said in a statement that he intends to “retire.”
Huggins, 69, was arrested in Pittsburgh on June 16 after police said they found his car blocking a road with the driver’s door open and a shredded tire. Huggins later failed an on-site sobriety test and is said to have messed up a 0.210 mark on a breathalyzer. Officers also reportedly found a garbage bag containing empty beer cans on the passenger floor of his vehicle.
The arrest marked Huggins’ second drunk driving incident, following one in 2004 while he was in Cincinnati. It was also his second incident this offseason. Huggins was fined and suspended by West Virginia after he used a homophobic slur during a radio appearance at a Cincinnati radio station last month.
Huggins retired as the all-time leading varsity basketball head coach with 935 career wins while coaching at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia, where he played in college. He made two Final Four appearances and won 10 conference tournament titles.
Kerr Kriisa was one of the top players on the transfer portal earlier this spring before deciding on a transfer to West Virginia. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Kriisa is the second West Virginia player to enter the transfer portal since Huggins’ retirement. Tre Mitchell stepped in on Thursday and Joe Toussaint followed Kriisa’s lead on Friday. Toussaint, who moved from Iowa to West Virginia before last season, averaged 9.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game with the Mountaineers. Mitchell, who previously played at UMass and Texas, averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds at Morgantown.
Kriisa averaged 9.9 points and 5.1 assists last season in Arizona, the highest of his career, while shooting nearly 40% from the field. He led the Pac-12 in assists and helped the Wildcats win the Pac-12 tournament for the second straight year. The Estonian-born player has two seasons left.
It’s unclear where Kriisa will end up next season, though he reportedly considered Memphis, Cincinnati and Nebraska before landing in West Virginia. He’s not ruling out a return to the Mountaineers either, although entering the portal now is a way to ensure he can leave without issue while West Virginia searches for Huggins’ replacement.
“I’ll still think about coming back when the new coach is announced,” Kriisa said on ESPN. “At the moment I’m entering the portal and I want this to be clarified as soon as possible.”