Javon not a Small addition for WVU men's basketball

Small entered the transfer portal in mid-March, and had interest from a number of schools, including Mississippi and Miami, before choosing WVU. At 6-3 and 195 pounds, his name is a misnomer, and it's also not descriptive of his game, which is outsized in many respects. He averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while running the Cowboy attack, and he was also efficient at the free throw line, hitting 86.6% of his tries. He was a 44% shooter from the field overall, and knocked down 37.4% of his 3-point attempts in earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.

Against WVU this past season, Small helped the Cowboys to a 70-66 win with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while dishing out seven assists against four turnovers.

A native of South Bend, Indiana, Small played sparingly in his first season with the Pirates, scoring 32 points in 147 minutes of action. He bumped his numbers up considerably in 2022-23, averaging 15.7 points and 4.8 rebounds over 18 games. His ballhandling skills also blossomed with a 5.5-3.4 assist to turnover ratio.

Small's ability to both score and distribute is an excellent match for DeVries' system, and it's hard to imagine that he will not have success in the Mountaineer lineup.

Small is the sixth transfer to commit to WVU since the end of the 2023-24 season.

WVU Men's Basketball 2024-25 Incoming Transfers

Javon Small Bio from Oklahoma State

2023-24 (Junior): East Carolina transfer had a strong debut season, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors… Missed the opener to injury but started each of the last 31 games at point guard… Averaged team-highs 15.1 points and 4.1 assists in 33.0 minutes per game… Knocked down 61 threes on 37.4% accuracy… Ranked fourth on the Big 12 leaderboard in free throw percentage at 86.6% (110-of-127)… Streak of 28 consecutive free throw makes from Nov. 17 to Dec. 10 was one of the 10-longest in OSU history… Also finished among the league’s top-10 in defensive rebounds (9th, 4.35) and minutes (10th, 32:58)… Drew a team-high 102 fouls… Scored in double-figures 24 times and topped 20 points on six occasions, highlighted by a 34-point effort at BYU (Mar. 9)… Tallied a pair of double-doubles… Scored 27 of his 29 points after halftime in an overtime game against Notre Dame (Nov. 17) and also totaled 10 rebounds to earn a spot on the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team… Also had big scoring games against No. 15 Creighton (24), Southern Illinois (25), Oklahoma (21) and in his Big 12 Championship debut against UCF (21)… Put up 19 points and converted two different 1-and-1 opportunities in the final 20 seconds of an 80-76 road win at Cincinnati (Feb. 21)… Helped key an upset of No. 19 BYU (Feb. 17) with 14 points and six assists… Supplied 18 points with seven dimes in the Feb. 3 win over K-State… Secured a double-double (15 points, career-high 12 rebounds) and made a go-ahead three with 53 seconds left in a 70-66 win over West Virginia (Jan. 27)… Handed out a season-high eight assists without a turnover versus Houston Christian (Nov. 24) and matched it with an eight-assist, one-turnover effort against ORU (Dec. 17)… Hit multiple threes in 10 straight games from Nov. 30 to Jan. 13, becoming just the eighth Cowboy to do so… Made 4-of-7 from deep in his OSU debut against Sam Houston (Nov. 12) to help OSU tie a program record for triples in a game (17).

At East Carolina (2021-23): Was one of the nation’s most-improved players in 2022-23 before suffering a season-ending leg injury in mid-January… Was averaging 15.8 points and 5.6 assists in 34.7 minutes (up from 2.0 points and 1.1 assists in 9.1 minutes as a true freshman) but missed the final 15 games… Ranked 18th nationally in assist rate (35.5), per KenPom… Averaged 4.6 free throw makes-per-game on 85.4% accuracy and 2.0 threes on 33.3% efficiency… Made the American Athletic Conference’s weekly honor roll three times during the non-conference season (Nov. 14, Nov. 28, Dec. 12)… Averaged 22.5 points in three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase to be named to the All-Tournament Team… Personal-bests include an 11-assist game against Campbell (Dec. 2) and a 27-point outburst against Indiana State (Nov. 21) on just 11 field goal attempts… Recorded a double-double against Coppin State (Dec. 11) with 21 points and 10 assists… Finished a rebound and two assists shy of a triple-double against High Point (Dec. 23), stacking up 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

High School: Graduate of Arizona Compass Prep where he was coached by Ed Gibson … Averaged 11.0 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game as a senior (2020-21) … Helped his team to a 28-2 record a semifinal berth at the 2021 Geico High School Nationals… Prior to that, attended Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis for two years, earning first team all-league honors in the Hoosiers Crossroads Conference and third team All-Marion County status as a junior (2019-20)… Spent his freshman year on the junior varsity squad at Riley High School in his hometown of South Bend, Ind, where he was coached by former OSU guard Andre Owens… On the summer circuit, played for Team Indiana in the 2021 Prep Ball Stars Midwest Challenge … Named to the 2021 All-Grind Session Team.