Cover photo courtesy of West Virginia Athletics
Morgantown, West Virginia – As the transfers continue to pile up at West Virginia, the most alarming part of the situation is the number of starters that the Mountaineers have lost.
While the transfer portal has negatively affected many schools around the country, no one is losing actual starters like West Virginia. These are guys who are not unhappy with playing time or the impact they are making on the field; these are actual starters who started last season and would inevitably start next season as well!
Dating back to last season, Tykee Smith (the team’s best player at the time), Dreshun Miller and Jeffery Pooler, all starters who had bright futures at West Virginia, decided to leave. This season, starters Jarret Doege (thank God), Winston Wright, Jackie Matthews, Sean Ryan, Isaiah Esdale, Daryl Porter, Jr. and Josh Chandler-Semedo have now left the team.
Let’s be clear. All of these transfers are players that absolutely would have started for the Mountaineers next season. It’s important to note that while a starting player occasionally leaves a team, it’s very rare for an established starter to walk away.
The decision for a player to enter the transfer portal is a very difficult one. Players go from a place with security to an entirely unknown situation. So the obvious question that needs to be asked is why are these players leaving?
Why would Winston Wright leave a team that makes him a focus on offense to go to a situation where he may or may not even start? Would would Daryl Porter, Jr., a player who would be an every-down defensive back for the Mountaineers, decided to transfer to Miami, where the competition will be far more challenging? Why would Josh Chandler-Semedo, the team’s top returning defensive player, suddenly decide to leave?
This is a very, very concerning situation that we simply cannot ignore any longer.
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