West Virginia guard Kerr Cressa entered the transfer window after longtime Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins resigned last week, ESPN’s Jonathan Giffoni said Friday.
Kriisa was one of the best transfers available on the gate earlier this spring before he opted to transfer to West Virginia from Arizona State. Due to a coaching change, per NCAA rules, Kressa and others have a 30-day period to transfer from West Virginia without having to sit out a season or apply for a waiver.
“It’s been a crazy, wild week,” said Chrissa. . “I’m terribly sorry about the situation, because I was really looking forward to playing with Coach Huggins. Huggs will always be my man. I’ve only known him for a few months, but he’s the most authentic guy I’ve ever had. He’s the man.”
from his job last week, just one day after he was arrested on a DUI charge in Pittsburgh. He said in a statement that he intends to “retire.”
on June 16 after police said they found his car blocking the road with the driver’s side door open and one of the tires slashed. Huggins later failed a field sobriety test, and reportedly blew . 210 on the respirator. It was also alleged that officers found a trash bag with empty beer cans on the floor of the passenger side of his car.
The arrest marked Huggins’ second DUI, after one in 2004 when he was in Cincinnati. It was also his second accident this off-season. by West Virginia after appearing on the radio on a Cincinnati radio station last month.
Huggins retired as the top active college basketball coach and tallied a career-high 935 wins while coaching at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia, where he played in college. He appeared twice in the Final Four and won ten conference championship titles.
Kressa is just the second West Virginia player to enter the transfer window since Huggins resigned. Trey Mitchell entered Thursday, and Joe Toussaint followed Chrissa’s streak on Friday. Toussaint, who transferred to West Virginia from Iowa before last season, averaged 9.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game with the Mountaineers. Mitchell, who previously played at UMass and Texas, averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds at Morgantown.
Kriisa averaged 9.9 points and 5.1 assists last season at Arizona while shooting nearly 40% from the field. He led the Pac-12 in assists, and helped the Wildcats win the Pac-12 tournament for the second straight season. The Estonian citizen has two remaining terms of eligibility.
It’s unclear where Chrissa will end up next season, though he had Memphis, Cincinnati, and Nebraska in mind before landing in West Virginia. He’s also not ruling out a return to the Mountaineers, though getting in the gate now is a way to ensure he can leave without issue while West Virginia searches for Huggins’ replacement.
“I will still consider coming back when the new coach is announced,” Chrissa said via ESPN. “Currently, I am entering the gate, and I want to find out as soon as possible.”
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