West Virginia
Jordan Harrison making an impact in year one at West Virginia – Blue Gold Sports
West Virginia women’s basketball underwent a little bit of roster turnover after Dawn Plitzuweit left the team after only one season to become the head coach at Minnesota.
West Virginia hired Mark Kellogg, who was previously the head coach at Stephen F. Austin. A pair of players from there opted to join forces with him at West Virginia.
Jordan Harrison and Zya Nugent transferred to West Virginia in wake of Mark Kellogg’s hiring. Nugent has served as a bench piece in year one in Morgantown, while Harrison has made in impact as a regular starter.
She may be undersized at five-foot-six, making her the team’s shortest player, but she has averaged the most minutes per game, and she leads the starters in 3-point percentage and is second on the team in most other statistical categories.
West Virginia has gone from averaging 9.6 steals in 2022-23 to averaging 14.3 steals per game in 2023-24, which is second in the nation. JJ Quinerly and Harrison are first and second respectively in the Big 12 in individual steals per game.
“Glad to be part of this team under Coach Kellogg,” Jordan Harrison said. “I think he’s a really great coach and I think people are starting to realize it now, but it’s exciting, we’re enjoying it. We want to be the best that we can and do something that West Virginia Women’s Basketball hasn’t done.”
The sophomore guard has averaged 13.3 points per game and has had at least 10 points in all but four games this season. Head Coach Mark Kellogg has been impressed with her performance this season.
“She finds ways to impact the game when she’s not scoring,” Mark Kellogg said after the win over Oklahoma. “If she’s not the best point guard in the Big 12, she’s one of them. She’s at the top — I think that highly of her.”
West Virginia is sitting at 22-4 on the season, their first season with at least 22 wins since 2020-21. They are ranked 22nd in the AP Poll and have hovered in that area of the AP Poll for nearly two months now.
The Mountaineers have a top 25 showdown later today against No. 24 Baylor at 2 p.m. EST. They close out the regular season after that with games against Oklahoma State and TCU before the Big 12 Tournament begins.
Losing to Kansas State wiped away all hope for West Virginia to make the NCAA Tournament. That seems to be the clear consensus in the Mountain State, but is there actually still a chance? Well, I guess so.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi still has West Virginia listed as a team to consider, the second team outside of the “next four out” grouping.
Lunardi’s current NCAA Tournament bubble
Last Four Byes: Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State
Last Four In: SMU, Santa Clara, New Mexico, Indiana
First Four Out: VCU, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati
Next Four Out: San Diego State, USC, California, Seton Hall
Next: Stanford, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona State
How is this even possible?
Short answer? I don’t really know.
My best guess as to why? Two things: the respect for the Big 12 and the opportunities left on the table, and two, an incredibly weak bubble.
Should West Virginia beat UCF on Friday, it will give the Mountaineers a 9-9 record in Big 12 play. That’s not as much of a guarantee to make the dance as having a winning record, but still, it’s an impressive mark, especially when, in this instance, they would have wins over Kansas, BYU, and sweeps over Cincinnati and UCF.
If you ask me, they still have too many bad losses for it to matter. I mean, even if they got red-hot out of nowhere and made it to the Big 12 championship game next week, is that enough? Potentially, but that’s a big IF.
The one thing WVU does have on its side is the number of Quad 1 wins, which they have five of. Virtually every other team in college basketball that has a minimum of five Quad 1 victories is expected to make the tournament. In that previously mentioned scenario, they would add at least one more Quad 1 win in the conference tournament, giving the committee something to think about.
The bubble is just incredibly weak, though. Like, how in the world is Auburn, who is 16-14 currently, the second team out of the field? Cincinnati, which WVU swept and has the same record as, is the fourth team in the “first four out” grouping.
At this point, the only path I see is for the Mountaineers to cut down the nets in Kansas City — good luck with that. We could be having a very different conversation if they didn’t lallygag their way through the first 30 minutes of the games against Utah and Kansas State.
Buckle up, Upshur County. Starting Friday, March 6, law enforcement officers across West Virginia will step up seatbelt enforcement as part of a statewide Click It or Ticket campaign running through March 23.
The West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) announced the high-visibility mobilization as a warm-up to the national seatbelt campaign in May. The goal is to ensure every occupant — front seat or back, driver or passenger — is buckled on every trip.
“During this mobilization, law enforcement officers across West Virginia will be out in full force. They will be strictly ticketing drivers who are unbuckled or who are transporting children not properly restrained in car seats,” said Jack McNeely, Director of the GHSP.
The numbers behind the campaign are sobering. In 2023, 40% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in West Virginia crashes were unrestrained. The state’s seatbelt usage rate has also slipped — from 91.9% in 2024 to 91.6% in 2025.
Rural drivers face elevated risk despite a common assumption that country roads are safer. In 2023, 65% of the state’s traffic fatalities occurred in rural areas, compared to 35% in urban centers.
Under West Virginia law, wearing a seatbelt is required. A citation carries a $25 fine, though McNeely says the real point isn’t the penalty.
“Click It or Ticket isn’t about the citations; it’s about saving lives,” he said. “A ticket is a wake-up call. It is far less expensive than the alternative — paying with your life or the lives of your family and friends.”
For more information about the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program, visit highwaysafety.wv.gov or call 304-926-2509.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WCHS) — A West Virginia man accused of threatening to attack President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers was federally indicted this week.
Cody Lee Smith, 20, of Clarksburg was indicted on two counts of threats to murder the president, one count of influencing and retaliating against federal officials by threat of murder and one count of influencing a federal official by threat of murder, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Smith is accused of making a series of public posts on Instagram encouraging and threatening the murder of Trump, those who support him, Israelis and “all government officials,” the news release said.
The indictment also alleges that Smith sent a direct message via Instagram to Donald J. Trump, Jr., stating he would kill his father by cutting his “jugular.”
In a phone call with the ICE tip line, Smith also threatened to kill ICE agents in Clarksburg and employees staffing the tip line.
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Smith faces up to 5 years for each of the presidential threat charges and faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the remaining counts.
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