Illinois transfer guard Sencire Harris commits to West Virginia

Former Illinois guard Sencire Harris has committed to West Virginia, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Harris did not participate in the 2023-24 season and opted to use his redshirt.

In his true freshman campaign with the Fighting Illini, Harris played in all 33 games and made sevens starts. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 43.0% from the field and 31.7% from beyond the arc.

Sencire Harris played high school basketball at St. Vincent-St. Mary (OH), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 97 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As a senior in high school, Harris led St. Vincent-St. Mary to a second-straight Ohio Division II state championships and was named Player of the Year by Cleveland.com. He is the second player West Virginia has added in the transfer portal this offseason, joined by Tucker DeVries.

Committed #WV 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/pjSTwdLg0W

— Sencire Harris (@SencireH) April 21, 2024

West Virginia enters new era under Darian DeVries

Harris will be entering at ground zero of the Darian DeVries Era. West Virginia officially hired DeVries on March 24. He spent the last six seasons as the head coach at Drake after a long career as an assistant at Creighton.

DeVries will take over for interim head coach Josh Eilert, who led the team last year after the departure of Bob Huggins late in the offseason.

During his time at Drake, DeVries amassed a 150-55 overall record and took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament three times – including each of the last two years. He won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year awards at the same time his son, Tucker, won MVC Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

Drake was Darian DeVries’ first head coaching opportunity after 17 years as an assistant coach at Creighton, starting under Dana Altman and continuing under Greg McDermott. He took over in 2018 for Niko Medved, who departed for Colorado State after just one season in Des Moines, and found immediate success

In DeVries’ first season, Drake shared the MVC regular-season title with Loyola Chicago – the program’s first conference title since 2008. Two years later, the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid, and after playing in the CBI in 2022, won back-to-back MVC Tournaments to go dancing again.

Drake won 20 games in each of DeVries’ six seasons at the helm, including a 28-7 record in 2023-24. This past season, the Bulldogs fell to Washington State in the Round of 64 despite leading late.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.