WVSPORTS.COM WVU men's basketball players press conference summary

[ZachAnderson1]

G Kerr Kriisa is up first.

-- Growing up he didn't know much about college but he knew about some biggers schools. He almost went professional but saw how the life was. College looked more fun to him and better for his development of his game.

-- His dad let him make his own decisions, and his family supported him throughout his basketball journey to now.

-- In the beginning of his transition to playing basketball in the States was different. He left Arizona because it was time to move on, he had a great three years there in his opinion and he loves his coaching staff.

-- The transfer portal was messy, and since he committed to play for Coach Huggins, he wanted other coaches to be given a chance to recruit him including Eilert. He wanted to gauge what Eliert wanted to do and if it aligned when he re-entered the portal.

-- Kriisa considers himself a leader and a free flowing, smooth player, and be the best he can be and continuing to improve every day.

-- His role has changed since commiting to WVU for the first time to now, he's usually pass-first but he's been expected to shoot now with the current roster. He loves passing but it's hard to change some habits.

-- His teammates are great kids, and they can do something special with the chemistry they have as a team.

-- Morgantown is more like back at home, but it has more hills and the roads are rough here. Morgantown is great and he likes the place he's at.

-- He thinks that people are doubting them and he likes it better that way. It's not always easy to deal with expectations and he's excited here since they have nothing to lose and chip on their shoulder. They're representing not just Morgantown but the entire state of West Virginia.

-- It's exciting because they have lot of potential and guys like Quinn, Jesse, and RaQuan are freak athletes.

-- Playing in the United States, he's grown as a person. He moved away from home and was used to it, The hardest part was the mental challenges of being so far away from home. With so many options to communicate today, it makes it easier to see family. Here in the US he continues to put weight on and it's harder work here at WVU. They put a lot of work in and have made a big change with his body and he likes to transition he's made in only three months.

 

[ZachAnderson1]

C Jesse Edwards is the next player up.

-- The transition to West Virginia has been everything he could hope, so he's excited with how much fun he's having and all of the players are great.

-- The coaching transition is not what anyone wanted, but it's been omrpessive how the new staff has pciked everything up. The reason many guys stayed was because what they built was still there and the players were still there.

-- The transition from 2-3 zone to man has been some new challenges to change what he's done the last four years and plays that are different.

-- It's more international here at WVU than Syracuse, and everyone on the team has a different background but they're gelling well and having fun. It's about the team coming together.

-- Born in Amsterdam, played high school over there and then came over to the United States to play for IMG Academy. It got him exposure and got him into the college basketball and got him some attention to Syracuse.

-- He was good at sports from a young age, soccer, track and field, but he picked up basketball at an older age than children in the United States. He wasn't too bad from the start but didn't have skills.

-- Edwards was devastated when stuff with Huggins happened, but playing for Jim Boeheim was an amazing experience and he could have played for two Hall of Fame coaches. He wasn't expecting Coach Eilert but besides Huggins, the group is still there and it's been a privilege to him.

-- Jesse's been told thay the Big 12 is physical with big players, and the team's with overall competitiveness. He's played some teams and played WVU a few years ago, so he has some knowledge,

-- He believes he's a solid pick and roll center and he's giving everything he can do defensively, including blocks and rebounds. He's expanding his range offensively and shooting more shots but he wants to the best he can do to continue to improve.

-- He's making rebounding a big part of his game and it's important, and he knows it would be huge for the team if he does what he did last year in terms of rebounding.

-- He wants to block as many shots as he can, but it's pick and choose on blocks since foul trouble that could be an issue. He's just trying to stay ion the game and make shots hard defensively.

-- The chemistry has been surprising and different, but the situation has brought us together and they've stuck together. The players rally around what the fans have said and the optimism for the season.

-- Edwards was happy here and he didn't want to leave, and he wasn't looking for reasons to leave. When they got a good reason to stay with staff and players staying, he wanted to remain here.

-- The other guys that Jesse Edwards transferred with is a factor for making him stay. He doesn't blame others for moving on and they knew if they stayed together then they could do something special.