West Virginia forward transfer Jalen Bridges down to four schools

One of the most sought-after players currently in the transfer portal is former West Virginia Mountaineers forward Jalen Bridges. After being on the Big 12 All-Freshman team last year and starting in every game for head coach Bob Huggins this season, Bridges is being recruited by some of the top programs in the country.

Bridges confirmed that he is down to four schools, with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Baylor Bears, Michigan State Spartans, and Ohio State Buckeyes still in the running. Three of them have done in-home visits with the Fairmont, WV, native, Bridges said via Twitter on Monday night. Head coach Scott Drew of Baylor is the only one who has not done a visit with the forward yet.

Playing and starting in 33 games this season, Bridges averaged 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Mountaineers. Bridges has been able to go over 20 points twice in his career, with the latest coming against the Oklahoma State Cowboys this year. Despite shooting 0 for 4 from the three-point line, the forward was dominant inside of the arc, making 60% of his shots and tying his career-high of 22 points.

Bridges is entering the transfer portal after three years in Morgantown, taking a redshirt during the 2019-2020 season. Now, he will be looking for a new place where he can become a major contributor, attempting to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament with an elite program.

Coming out of high school, Bridges was a top 100 prospect at No. 96 according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. Rated a four-star recruit, he was the No. 23 small forward in the country and the top player in the state of West Virginia.

Of the four programs still in the running to pick Bridges up as a transfer, Alabama and Ohio State were the only two to offer in his original recruitment. Crimson Tide assistant coach Charlie Henry is noted as the main recruiter for the forward, while now Illinois State Redbirds head coach Ryan Pedon represented the Buckeyes.

Bridges could decide to stay within the Big 12 with Baylor and would face off against his former team twice next season. When playing against the Bears as a West Virginia player, Bridges averaged nine points across three games, all coming during the regular season. If Drew is able to acquire him, it would be a rare intraconference transfer between the two programs.