WVSports.com continues with our popular feature: The 3-2-1. We’ll break down three things we learned that week, two questions we have and give one prediction.
Here is the next installment of the 3-2-1 looking at the West Virginia football program, the latest on basketball and what’s happening in recruiting.
3 things I learned:
1–A mixed week on the court. West Virginia saw an opportunity slip through their fingers on the road at TCU leading to a 65-60 loss to the Horned Frogs. But the Mountaineers did show some resiliency by coming home and getting a must-win game over Utah to put the program at 15 wins with eight regular season games left.
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It was a total team effort and a nice bounce back from the program after they struggled mightily at times against the Horned Frogs on both ends of the floor.
West Virginia is now set for a remaining schedule that is going to have opportunities for this team to further bolster their resume heading into the stretch run of the season.
West Virginia has a home game against BYU on Tuesday before hitting the road to take on Baylor and the hosting Cincinnati. From there, West Virginia has a road trip to Texas Tech, a home game against TCU, and then two road games at BYU and Utah before closing the regular season at home against UCF.
That isn’t going to be an easy slate by any means but there are certainly chances there for the Mountaineers to stack some wins and put themselves in a good spot in regards to the NCAA Tournament. That is still a ways off at this point, but as long as the Mountaineers can take care of business at home and find a way to try to win on or two on the road would cement their place in the dance.
But they’ve got to string together some good play on both ends of the floor in order to get to that point. Still, a strong job by Darian DeVries in his first year at this stage.
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2–DeVries out for the year. West Virginia made it official, but has long appeared to be the case for quite some time that Tucker DeVries isn’t returning this season. The senior will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery and start the process of applying for a medical redshirt and working toward a return for next season.
DeVries followed his father to West Virginia from Drake where he was named the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. That included the 2023-24 campaign where he averaged 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 44-percent from the field and 36-percent from three.
He played in just eight games with the Mountaineers and averaged 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game prior to being sidelined indefinitely with what was described as an “upper-body injury.” However, reporting from WVSports.com confirmed that the issue was his shoulder and that a return was considered unlikely at best.
It’s the second consecutive season that DeVries will undergo shoulder surgery and this is expected to sideline him for roughly three months according to his father Darian. The elder DeVries confirmed that his son did everything he could to return to the floor and worked with multiple medical teams in doing so but it was determined by all parties involved that surgery was necessary to address the injury.
West Virginia isn’t going to have to guess how they would handle DeVries out of the lineup because the program has already been doing it since December. But it does make it a reality that there won’t be any reinforcements coming at least from DeVries.
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There is some silver lining to this news though as DeVries is going to apply for a medical redshirt which will give him the ability to come back for the Mountaineers next season. That is significant when it comes to building the roster for next year clearly to be able to retain a player of that caliber to build around with six seniors departing.
West Virginia also will be without the services of Jayden Stone who also plans to take a redshirt this season after missing the majority of the year.
Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.
The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.
While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.
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As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.
Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.
Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
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WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
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What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
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Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
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OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
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LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
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Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
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S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
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S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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