West Virginia guard Kerr Kriisa to miss 9 games for impermissible benefits at Arizona
Kerr Kriisa was a major addition for West Virginia as one of the top transfers in the portal this offseason. However, the Mountaineers will reportedly be without his services for the first few games of their season due to matters that took place while he was in Tuscon.
West Virginia shared a statement on Tuesday that provided the news that Kriisa will miss the first nine games of their season. They cooperated with the NCAA to make the decision on this penalty as an answer to the fact that he received impermissible benefits during his time with the Arizona Wildcats.
“In late August 2023, West Virginia University learned of a potential eligibility concern for men’s basketball transfer student-athlete Kerr Kriisa, who admitted to receiving impermissible benefits while enrolled at the University of Arizona,” the statement read. “West Virginia worked cooperatively with the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Staff to reach an appropriate resolution.”
“As a result of his actions, Kriisa will miss nine 2023-2024 regular season games as part of his eligibility reinstatement,” it continued. “Kriisa will be able to continue to practice and travel with the team during his suspension from competition. He accepts responsibility for his actions at Arizona and looks forward to joining his Mountaineer teammates on the floor.”
Kriisa spent the past three seasons with ‘Zona out in the Pac-12 with 76 appearances as a Wildcat, including 70 starts. In that time, he averaged 9.4 points and 4.7 assists in just under 30 minutes per game.
In his junior campaign last season, Kriisa averaged career highs of 9.9 points and 5.1 assists. The 5.1 assists led the Pac-12 for the second straight season, which is the first time any player has done that since 2000-2001.
After making a pair of NCAA Tournaments and leading Arizona to 28 or more wins in the last two seasons, Kriisa entered the portal back at the end of March. He then committed to West Virginia at the start of April. After reconsidering and reentering the portal following the resignation of Bob Huggins at the end of June, he then determined that he’d remain firm in his commitment to Josh Eilert in Morgantown.
West Virginia will open the season against Missouri State in one week. He will miss games such as the matchups in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Big East-Big 12 Battle against St. John’s, and a contest against Pittsburgh. The first game he would currently be set to return in is either against UMass in the Hall of Fame Classic on December 16th or against Radford on December 20th.