Olivier Nkamhoua, a transfer power forward from Tennessee, made an official visit to Morgantown, West Virginia on Saturday and is now set to make other visits before finally deciding where he will continue his collegiate career.
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — One of the top remaining transfers in the transfer portal, Olivier Nkamhoua, was in town this weekend, visiting with West Virginia coaches and staff. Nkamhoua, a 6’9 power forward from Finland, averaged 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game for Tennessee this past season, toured the Mountaineers practice facility and met with Bob Huggins and his coaching staff.
The West Virginia coaches took Nkamhoua to The Lakehouse Restaurant, an American-Italian restaurant on Cheat Lake in Morgantown, for lunch. After lunch, Nkahmhoua and Huggins were seen hugging and laughing in the parking lot, which is obviously a very good sign for West Virginia. Huggins was joined by assistant coach Alex Ruoff and Director of Player Personnel/Recruiting Jay Kuntz.
In other words, West Virginia put on the full-court press to land Nkamhoua, knowing he very well could be the missing piece that could eventually lead the Mountaineers to a Big 12 and national championship. Nkamhoua is not only a talented, experienced offensive player, he would also instantly be the team’s best defender should he decide to join.
Nkamhoua is now visiting Kansas State and will visit Michigan next weekend. Michigan has long been considered the favorite land him, but Bob Huggins and his staff have proven to be very successful at gaining commitments from players once they get them on campus.
West Virginia has found ways to compensate foreign-born players with NIL deals using methods that other schools have not yet been able to do. The Mountaineers landed Kerr Kriisa, who was born in Estonia, and Jesse Edwards, who was born in The Netherlands, reportedly paying both players more than their previous schools (Arizona and Syracuse, respectively) could pay them and perhaps they can work their same magic with the Finland-born Nkamhoua.
According to On3, West Virginia currently has a 38.1% chance of landing him, while Michigan’s chances have dropped to 33.3%.
West Virginia is currently in the lead to land Olivier Nkamhoua, according to On3. #WVU pic.twitter.com/q8N6PgQ70W
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) May 28, 2023
