MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men's basketball coach Bob Huggins has announced the signing of Kerr Kriisa (KREE-sah) to a grant-in-aid for the 2023-24 academic year.
Kriisa, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Tartu, Estonia, played the last three seasons at Arizona. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
As a junior at Arizona, Kriisa led the Pac-12 in assists per game (5.14) for the second straight season, becoming the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in assists in back-to-back years since Brandon Granville (USC) in 2000 and 2001.
He played in all 35 games and made 34 starts, averaging 9.9 points per game. Kriisa tied for the team lead with 83 3-point field goals, the eighth most in a season in Arizona history. He dished out 180 assists, which ranked 20th nationally. Kriisa posted the second triple-double of his career with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against Southern. He posted a career-high 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3 against Utah Tech.
As a sophomore, Kriisa recorded a triple-double when he had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Utah, shooting 7-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half. He averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 assists for the season. Kriisa had 155 assists and 80 3-point field goals, playing in 33 games with 31 starts. He had 21 points in the win over Washington and scored double figures 15 times.
As a freshman, Kriisa was not cleared to play until Feb. 4 and appeared in eight total games, averaging 5.5 points and 2.4 assists per game.
For his three-year career at Arizona, he ranked 10th in Wildcat history with 177 career 3-point field goals made and fifth in Arizona history with 503 career 3-point field goal attempts. He is one of five players in Pac-12 history to record multiple triple-doubles in a career. Kriisa has played in 76 career games, starting 70. He has scored 711 points, has 354 assists and 171 rebounds.
"Kerr is an outstanding guard who our guys will love playing with," Huggins said. "He shares the ball extremely well and is more than capable of getting the ball to the open guy. Kerr has tremendous floor vision. He is a very efficient 3-point shooter. His experience playing at a high level will be invaluable to our team."
Prior to Arizona, he spent the 2019-20 season playing for Prienai CBet and Zalgiris II Kaunas in Lithuania. Kriisa averaged nearly 14 points and six assists per game with Zalgiris. He was named MVP at the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament, which was part of the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He played with the Estonian senior and junior national team and was a driving force behind Estonia's first-ever win over Lithuania in 2020. His father, Valmo, was a professional basketball player in Estonia.
Kriisa, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Tartu, Estonia, played the last three seasons at Arizona. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
As a junior at Arizona, Kriisa led the Pac-12 in assists per game (5.14) for the second straight season, becoming the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in assists in back-to-back years since Brandon Granville (USC) in 2000 and 2001.
He played in all 35 games and made 34 starts, averaging 9.9 points per game. Kriisa tied for the team lead with 83 3-point field goals, the eighth most in a season in Arizona history. He dished out 180 assists, which ranked 20th nationally. Kriisa posted the second triple-double of his career with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against Southern. He posted a career-high 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3 against Utah Tech.
As a sophomore, Kriisa recorded a triple-double when he had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Utah, shooting 7-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half. He averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 assists for the season. Kriisa had 155 assists and 80 3-point field goals, playing in 33 games with 31 starts. He had 21 points in the win over Washington and scored double figures 15 times.
As a freshman, Kriisa was not cleared to play until Feb. 4 and appeared in eight total games, averaging 5.5 points and 2.4 assists per game.
For his three-year career at Arizona, he ranked 10th in Wildcat history with 177 career 3-point field goals made and fifth in Arizona history with 503 career 3-point field goal attempts. He is one of five players in Pac-12 history to record multiple triple-doubles in a career. Kriisa has played in 76 career games, starting 70. He has scored 711 points, has 354 assists and 171 rebounds.
"Kerr is an outstanding guard who our guys will love playing with," Huggins said. "He shares the ball extremely well and is more than capable of getting the ball to the open guy. Kerr has tremendous floor vision. He is a very efficient 3-point shooter. His experience playing at a high level will be invaluable to our team."
Prior to Arizona, he spent the 2019-20 season playing for Prienai CBet and Zalgiris II Kaunas in Lithuania. Kriisa averaged nearly 14 points and six assists per game with Zalgiris. He was named MVP at the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament, which was part of the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He played with the Estonian senior and junior national team and was a driving force behind Estonia's first-ever win over Lithuania in 2020. His father, Valmo, was a professional basketball player in Estonia.
