WVU Coach DeVries Officially Signs One of Nation's Top Transfer Portal Players in OSU's Javon Small
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on May 20, 2024
West Virginia University men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Javon Small to a grant-in-aid for the 2024-25 basketball season.
Small, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior guard from South Bend, Indiana, comes to WVU from Oklahoma State, where he spent the 2023-24 
season. He previously played two seasons at East Carolina.
season. He previously played two seasons at East Carolina.
“We are excited to have Javon joining our program,” DeVries said. “He is a tremendous playmaker at both ends of the floor. He has a great feel for the game and can hurt you as a scorer and a facilitator. We look forward to having our fans watch him compete this upcoming season.”
Last season at Oklahoma State, Small earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors after he averaged team highs of 15.1 points and 4.1 assists in 33.0 minutes per game. He missed the opener due to injury but started each of the last 31 games at point guard for the Cowboys. Small ranked fourth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.6% (110 of 127) and had a streak of 28 consecutive free throws made from Nov. 17 to Dec. 10.
Small finished ninth in the Big 12 in defensive rebounds at 4.35 per game and 10th in minutes played (32:58), drawing a team-high 102 fouls. He scored in double figures 24 times and topped 20 points on six occasions, highlighted by 34 points at BYU. Small had a pair of double-doubles, including scoring 27 of his 29 points after halftime in an overtime game at Notre Dame to go with 10 rebounds. He had 20-point performances against Creighton (24), Southern Illinois (25), Oklahoma (21) and in the Big 12 Championship against UCF (19). Small had a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against WVU.
At East Carolina, Small was one of the nation’s most improved players in 2022-23 before suffering a season-ending leg injury in January. He was averaging 15.8 points and 5.6 assists in 34.7 minutes (up from 2.0 points and 1.1 assists in 9.1 minutes as a true freshman) but missed the final 15 games. Small made the American Athletic Conference’s weekly honor roll three times. He had a personal best 11-assist game against Campbell and 27 points against Indiana State. Small had a double-double against Coppin State with 21 points and 10 assists and nearly had triple-double against High Point, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Small is a graduate of Arizona Compass Prep, where he averaged 11.0 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game as a senior. He helped the team to a 28-2 record and a semifinal berth at the 2021 Geico High School Nationals. Small previously attended Franklin Central High in Indianapolis for two years and spent his freshman year at Riley High in South Bend, Indiana.
