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WVU Release WVU Women's Soccer Opens NCAA Tournament Play Against Kentucky

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 14, 2024) – The West Virginia University women’s soccer team prepares to open NCAA Tournament play in the First Round against No. 5-seed Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 15. Kickoff at UK’s Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, Kentucky, is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Friday’s match will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Josh Braun and Gavin Colton on the call. Live stats also are available at NCAA.com.

West Virginia is set to make its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 25 seasons in 2024. WVU earned an at-large bid for the first time since 2020 and will make its 23rd appearance all time. The Mountaineers are 23-20-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament action. Additionally, WVU has earned an NCAA Tournament bid seven times since 2015, which includes four trips to the Third Round during that span.

The Mountaineers’ most recent trip to the NCAA Tournament was in 2022, when they earned the Big 12 Conference’s automatic bid. West Virginia won its 18th conference championship, as well as its fifth Big 12 Tournament title, to claim the automatic bid. As the No. 7 seed, WVU hosted Virginia Tech in the First Round on Nov. 13, earning a 2-0 win over the Hokies. In the Second Round, WVU traveled to University Park, Pa., on Nov. 18 to take on No. 2-seed Penn State, but ultimately fell 4-0 to the Nittany Lions.

Friday’s contest marks just the fourth meeting all time between West Virginia and Kentucky, while it also is the first matchup between the two teams since 2013. WVU holds a 2-1 lead in the series, as well as a 1-0 lead in games played in Lexington. The two teams first met on Aug. 27, 2004, with the Mountaineers securing a season-opening, 3-2 win in double overtime in Lexington. Most recently, West Virginia suffered its first loss in the series on Sept. 15, 2013, falling 2-4 to the Wildcats in Morgantown.

Last time out, West Virginia dropped a double-overtime match in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Big 12 Championship, falling 1-0 to eventual Big 12 Champion Kansas inside CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 2. After the match was scoreless through the first 100 minutes of play, Kansas found the back of the net for the golden goal in the 101st minute. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith tallied eight saves in the loss, marking a new single-match career high for the Apex, North Carolina, native.

Troy Fabiano is in his third season as the head coach of the Wildcats, leading Kentucky to its best season in nearly a decade in 2024. Kentucky enters Friday’s First Round matchup with an 11-4-4 overall record, including a 3-3-4 mark in SEC play. The squad is coming off a 1-0 loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals on Nov. 3. Makala Woods paces the Wildcat offense with 11 goals and 23 points, while Maddie Kemp leads UK with five assists. In goal, Marz Josephson has notched 33 saves and a 0.733 save percentage.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

WVU Release Trent MacLean has signed

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Trent MacLean to a grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 season.

MacLean, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound wing from Westlake Village, California, currently attends Southern California (SoCal) Academy in Castaic, California, where he plays for coach Julius Von Hanzlik. He is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds per game, while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range. MacLean previously attended Thousand Oaks (Calif.) prior to his senior season.

MacLean's father, Don, a nine-year NBA veteran, is UCLA's and the Pac-12 Conference's all-time leading scorer with 2,608 points.

"We are elated to welcome Trent to our Mountaineer family," DeVries said. "He possesses the rare combination of size and the ability to shoot the basketball with deep range that will fit perfectly with our style of play. Trent's best basketball is still ahead of him, and we look forward to helping him reach his full potential on and off the basketball court."

Trent MacLean is a four-star prospect and Top 150 recruit, including being ranked as a Top 30 power forward by numerous scouting services. In addition, he helped BTI win a Puma Pro 16 championship.

WVU Release No. 19 West Virginia Wrestling Handles Rider in First Road Win

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (Nov. 14, 2024) – In its first road dual of the season, the West Virginia University wrestling team (2-0) picked up a 31-9 victory over Rider (0-1) inside Alumni Gym on Thursday night.



The Mountaineers jumped out to a 20-0 advantage through the first four matches of the dual, including back-to-back pins by senior Jett Strickenberger (133) and redshirt junior Jordan Titus (141). Sophomore Ty Watters added a 16-1 technical fall over No. 24 Sammy Alvarez to put West Virginia up by 17 points heading into the break (20-3).



Despite Rider getting on the board with a decision at 157 pounds, fifth-year senior Peyton Hall (165) responded with a 22-7 technical fall to extend the Gold and Blue’s lead to 22 (25-3). Redshirt senior Austin Cooley (197) and fifth-year senior Michael Wolfgram (HWT) rounded out the scoring output for the Mountaineers with pair of decisions to seal the 22-point road win against the Broncs.



Up next, Hall and Watters travel to State College, Pennsylvania, to represent WVU at the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. ET.



Match Results vs. Rider

125:. Jace Schafer (WVU) dec. Will Betancourt (RU), 1-0

133: No. 22 Jett Strickenberger (WVU) won by fall over Michael Campanaro (RU), [T – 4:31]

141: No. 15 Jordan Titus (WVU) won by fall over McKenzie Bell (RU), [T – 6:14]

149: No. 3 Ty Watters (WVU) tech. fall over No. 24 Sammy Alvarez (RU), 16-1 [T – 5:00]

157: No. 28 Colton Washleski (RU) dec. Caleb Dowling (WVU), 7-3

165: No. 4 Peyton Hall (WVU) tech. fall over Enrique Munguia (RU), 22-7 [T – 7:00]

174: No. 27 Michael Wilson (RU) dec. No. 24 Brody Conley (WVU), 11-5

184: Isaac Dean (RU) dec. No. 22 Ian Bush (WVU), 4-2

197: No. 33 Austin Cooley (WVU) dec. Steyn De Lange (RU), 5-1

HWT: Michael Wolfgram (WVU) dec. Collin French (RU), 7-6



For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

WVU Release No. 19 West Virginia Wrestling Handles Rider in First Road Win

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (Nov. 14, 2024) – In its first road dual of the season, the West Virginia University wrestling team (2-0) picked up a 31-9 victory over Rider (0-1) inside Alumni Gym on Thursday night.



The Mountaineers jumped out to a 20-0 advantage through the first four matches of the dual, including back-to-back pins by senior Jett Strickenberger (133) and redshirt junior Jordan Titus (141). Sophomore Ty Watters added a 16-1 technical fall over No. 24 Sammy Alvarez to put West Virginia up by 17 points heading into the break (20-3).



Despite Rider getting on the board with a decision at 157 pounds, fifth-year senior Peyton Hall (165) responded with a 22-7 technical fall to extend the Gold and Blue’s lead to 22 (25-3). Redshirt senior Austin Cooley (197) and fifth-year senior Michael Wolfgram (HWT) rounded out the scoring output for the Mountaineers with pair of decisions to seal the 22-point road win against the Broncs.



Up next, Hall and Watters travel to State College, Pennsylvania, to represent WVU at the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. ET.



Match Results vs. Rider

125:. Jace Schafer (WVU) dec. Will Betancourt (RU), 1-0

133: No. 22 Jett Strickenberger (WVU) won by fall over Michael Campanaro (RU), [T – 4:31]

141: No. 15 Jordan Titus (WVU) won by fall over McKenzie Bell (RU), [T – 6:14]

149: No. 3 Ty Watters (WVU) tech. fall over No. 24 Sammy Alvarez (RU), 16-1 [T – 5:00]

157: No. 28 Colton Washleski (RU) dec. Caleb Dowling (WVU), 7-3

165: No. 4 Peyton Hall (WVU) tech. fall over Enrique Munguia (RU), 22-7 [T – 7:00]

174: No. 27 Michael Wilson (RU) dec. No. 24 Brody Conley (WVU), 11-5

184: Isaac Dean (RU) dec. No. 22 Ian Bush (WVU), 4-2

197: No. 33 Austin Cooley (WVU) dec. Steyn De Lange (RU), 5-1

HWT: Michael Wolfgram (WVU) dec. Collin French (RU), 7-6



For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

WVU Release Braydon Hawthorne has signed

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Braydon Hawthorne to a grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 season.

Hawthorne, a 6-foot-9, 195-pound guard/forward, from Beckley, West Virginia, is considered the top prospect in West Virginia for the class of 2025 by numerous scouting and recruiting services.

Hawthorne currently attends Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, West Virginia, playing for coach Arkell Bruce. He is currently averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game. Hawthorne previously attended Woodrow Wilson High in Beckley.

"We are thrilled to welcome Braydon to our Mountaineer family," DeVries said. "Braydon has tremendous upside and positional size at 6-foot-9 on the wing. His skill, shooting and length as well as being a 4.0 student and West Virginia native are things we valued in his recruitment. We are excited to help Braydon develop here on and off the court."

He was the MVP at the Dr. Pepper Classic and rated as one of the top standouts at the Paul Biancardi Camp. Hawthorne also pays for the Phenom United 25'.

WVU Release Braydon Hawthorne has signed

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Braydon Hawthorne to a grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 season.

Hawthorne, a 6-foot-9, 195-pound guard/forward, from Beckley, West Virginia, is considered the top prospect in West Virginia for the class of 2025 by numerous scouting and recruiting services.

Hawthorne currently attends Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, West Virginia, playing for coach Arkell Bruce. He is currently averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game. Hawthorne previously attended Woodrow Wilson High in Beckley.

"We are thrilled to welcome Braydon to our Mountaineer family," DeVries said. "Braydon has tremendous upside and positional size at 6-foot-9 on the wing. His skill, shooting and length as well as being a 4.0 student and West Virginia native are things we valued in his recruitment. We are excited to help Braydon develop here on and off the court."

He was the MVP at the Dr. Pepper Classic and rated as one of the top standouts at the Paul Biancardi Camp. Hawthorne also pays for the Phenom United 25'.

WVU Release Kelvin Odih has signed

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Kelvin Odih to a grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 season.

Odih is a 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard/wing from Providence, Rhode Island, who is ranked as a Top 75 national prospect and a four-star recruit by many scouting services.

Odih attends Southern California (SoCal) Academy in Castaic, California, where he is coached by coach Julius Von Hanzlik. He is currently averaging 17 points per game.

Odih previously attended La Salle Academy and South Kent (Conn.). He helped lead La Salle to a 29-2 record and the 2023 Rhode Island Division 1 championship, while earning all-state honors. Odih was named the Rhode Island MaxPreps Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season, averaging 19.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game while recording 15 double-doubles.

"We are thrilled to welcome Kelvin to our Mountaineer family," DeVries said. "We identified Kelvin early in the summer as someone who we wanted to recruit to West Virginia. His competitive spirit, will to win and versatility on both ends of the court are attributes that we highly value. We are looking forward to coaching Kelvin and helping him reach his potential both on and off the basketball court."

Odih played for Rhode Island Elite on the Puma Pro16 Circuit. Also, he was named the Pangos All-American Camp Top 60 Game MVP.

Four Pinocchios For Nancy

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was fact-checked on Wednesday by The Washington Post for claiming that fewer migrants came into the U.S. under President Biden than under President-elect Trump's first term.

"I don’t think we were clear enough by saying fewer people came in under President Joe Biden than came under Donald Trump," Pelosi told The New York Times during a recent interview.

The Washington Post published a fact-check on the claim on Wednesday, and noted that it was "documented fact" that "at least four times as many migrants entered the United States under Biden than under Trump."

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WVU Release Trent MacLean has signed

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Trent MacLean to a grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 season.

MacLean, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound wing from Westlake Village, California, currently attends Southern California (SoCal) Academy in Castaic, California, where he plays for coach Julius Von Hanzlik. He is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds per game, while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range. MacLean previously attended Thousand Oaks (Calif.) prior to his senior season.

MacLean's father, Don, a nine-year NBA veteran, is UCLA's and the Pac-12 Conference's all-time leading scorer with 2,608 points.

"We are elated to welcome Trent to our Mountaineer family," DeVries said. "He possesses the rare combination of size and the ability to shoot the basketball with deep range that will fit perfectly with our style of play. Trent's best basketball is still ahead of him, and we look forward to helping him reach his full potential on and off the basketball court."

Trent MacLean is a four-star prospect and Top 150 recruit, including being ranked as a Top 30 power forward by numerous scouting services. In addition, he helped BTI win a Puma Pro 16 championship.
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