MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the first time in Mark Kellogg's long and successful coaching career, the new are outnumbering the old.

This year, West Virginia's third-year coach will be welcoming at least six new players, and possibly as many as eight newcomers by the time school starts in August.

Welcome to the new world of college athletics!

"I don't know that I've ever had more newcomers than returners, other than when I've taken over a new job," he said late last week. "I've never been in this situation where you return as a coaching staff with more newcomers than you have returners."

Among the outgoing are honorable mention All-American guard JJ Quinerly, now tearing it up as a rookie in the WNBA for the Dallas Wings, and Swiss Army knife extraordinaire Kyah Watson.

There were many times last year when Quinerly was simply the best player on the floor, while the 5-foot-10 Watson was the one player Kellogg couldn't afford to take out of the game because of her versatility and defensive prowess.

These two helped West Virginia to a 50-16 overall record and NCAA Tournament second-round exits at Iowa two years ago and at North Carolina last season.

Kellogg admits it was always comforting seeing those two in their normal spots on the floor, stretching out before practices.

"It's a different look and a different feel," he said. "They all come from our regime now and Jordan (Harrison) is the only one who was a part of the team two years ago.

"You replace points, and you replace certain things," he added. "That happens every year. You lose players. Yes, JJ was an extremely talented kid, but it's some of her other intangibles (that are irreplaceable). It's the on-ball defense, the calmness late in the game that we have somebody who we can get the ball to who could go and make a play."

What Kellogg envisions this year is multiple players picking up Quinerly's 20.4 points-per-game scoring average in 2025.

"JJ scored 20 a game and now it will spread out and somebody else will find those points," he explained. "It won't be one person, but we'll spread it out and figure out how to score and still figure out how to defend."

Jordan Harrison, now a senior, and Sydney Shaw, an Auburn transfer who averaged 11.4 points per game last year, are the two most likely candidates to replace J.J.'s production. Kellogg believes Harrison is primed for a big senior season after averaging 13.7 points and handing out a team-best 148 assists last year as a junior.

Shaw demonstrated at times last year an ability to get her own shot and could score at a high clip, topping 20 points in a game three times. Her season-high was 22 in a win against Kansas.

Senior guard Sydney Woodley is a ball-hawking defender on the perimeter with the length to give opposing guards issues, while sophomore Jordan Thomas and senior Celia Riviere are the team's two returning post players.
Thomas really developed toward the end of last season with double-digit scoring efforts in three of her final five games, including 16 in regular season finale at Cincinnati.

Among the newcomers, Wisconsin transfer Carter McCray is demonstrating an ability to grab rebounds and score close to the basket that Kellogg's West Virginia teams have lacked the last two seasons.

The Oberlin, Ohio, resident began her collegiate career at Northern Kentucky.

"(McCray) is what we've needed," Kellogg explained. "We were not very good two years ago rebounding, and I thought we were a little bit better to around average last year. That's the step that we can certainly take, and she will be a big piece of that."

The 6-foot-1-inch McCray averaged 15.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game to earn second team All-Horizon League honors two years ago at Northern Kentucky and averaged 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest last season in the Big Ten for the Badgers.

Kellogg said she has a great motor.

"I think to be a good rebounder, you're kind of relentless and you have to have a will and a want, the two words I always use," he said. "That's what the great ones really are. It's not necessarily as much about technique as it is just wanting the basketball, and she loves it a little more than others at times."

Norfolk State transfer Kierra Wheeler is another coveted forward addition Kellogg is high on. The 6-foot-1 graduate student was the 2024 MEAC Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Last year, the Minneapolis resident tallied 15.6 points and grabbed nine boards per game for the Spartans.

Both are capable of giving West Virginia much-needed scoring close to the basket.

"I think, in time, we will be able to finish by throwing it to some bodies inside and finishing at a higher clip," Kellogg stated.

In the backcourt, West Virginia added a pair of Big 12 transfers in Texas Tech wing Loghan Johnson and athletic Houston guard Gia Cooke. Both are juniors.

Cooke was the Cougars' second-leading scorer last year, averaging 12.4 points per game and generating a career-high 25 against conference champion TCU. The Upper Marlboro, Maryland, resident began her collegiate career at Maryland.

Johnson, from Houston, is similar to Watson size-wise, and Kellogg believes she has the ability to fill Watson's vital role on this year's team.

Butler transfer Riley Makalusky also possesses outstanding length on the wing and the ability to knock down open 3s. Her outside shooting could fill the role Kylee Blacksten provided for the Mountaineers last year.
Mason, Ohio, four-star guard and top 100-prospect Madison Parrish should be a factor in the backcourt as well.

Collectively, Kellogg believes this is his deepest West Virginia team to date.

"We can probably go 10 or 11 deep now, which we haven't been able to do as much in years past," he noted.

It's a deep team that could become even deeper depending upon what happens with waivers and visas. If everything works out, Kellogg is expecting to have 13 players in the fold when the fall semester begins.

He is also working on another amended contract, which WVU vice president and director of athletics Wren Baker announced on X last week.

"We love it here," the coach stated. "It's been a great place for my family. We've had a great two-year stretch, and we don't anticipate going anywhere at this point. This is where we want to be. My kids are a senior (son Camden) and a junior (daughter Kayli) in high school and this place has welcomed us.

"What we've been able to do in the Coliseum has been special and there are still some goals that we haven't achieved. That's still kind of the next step for us is, can we advance? Can we get some home games in the NCAA Tournament? Can we win a Big 12 championship? There is still some meat left on the bone, so to speak, that we want to accomplish," he concluded.