MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Eight days out from the season opener, West Virginia’s men’s basketball team has an addition on the way.
Whether or not he will be eligible to play this season remains to be seen, but Jose Perez, last season’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year, is bound for Morgantown, according to multiple reports.
Manhattan transfer Jose Perez to West Virginia.
Now the question becomes when is Perez eligible to play for Huggins.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 30, 2022
Perez opted to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal last week after Manhattan parted ways with head coach Steve Masiello.
West Virginia will be the fourth school for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Perez, who has one season of eligibility remaining.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reports Perez expects to be eligible this season.
Manhattan transfer Jose Perez tells me that he has committed to West Virginia.
Perez tells me that he expects to be eligible this season.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 30, 2022
In his lone season with the Jaspers, Perez averaged 18.9 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds. He spent his first two collegiate seasons at Gardner-Webb and then one at Marquette.
For his college career, Perez averages 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Perez becomes West Virginia’s 15th player and the second Bronx, N.Y. native to join the Mountaineers through the transfer portal ahead of this season along with guard Joe Toussaint, an Iowa transfer.
The Mountaineers are already at their limit of 13 scholarships, meaning either Perez or one of West Virginia’s scholarship players will be a walk-on.
After entering the portal, Perez was also pursued by TCU, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, Missouri, Louisville and North Carolina State.