Javon Small Ranked as One of the Best Players in the Country

Javon Small has been producing like one of the best players in the country this season and he was finally recognized as such as ESPN ranked him the 10th-best player in the nation Friday.

“One of the best transfers in the country for one of the biggest surprise teams of the season, Small has been nothing short of terrific,” wrote ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello. “He has scored at least 12 points and dished out multiple assists in every game, plus grabbed double-digit rebounds twice…it’s hard to see his numbers slipping given his highest usage rate in the Big 12.”

Small, who transferred from Oklahoma State this offseason, has been nothing short of spectacular for the Mountaineers this year. He leads the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game with 42.6/36.6/87.8 shooting splits. He’s also on the floor more than any other player in the Big 12, averaging 36.1 minutes per game while also ranking fourth in the conference with 5.2 assists per game.

Even in the Mountaineers’ latest game, Houston was able to limit Small’s scoring but he still managed to dish out eight assists.

“Javon’s about winning, that’s the thing I love about him,” WVU coach Darian DeVries said Friday. “From a coaching standpoint, we would like to find more ways to get him shots even when teams are trying to take him away.”

The Cougars aggressively double-teamed Small in their 79-54 win on Wednesday, something DeVries expects more teams to do as the season wears on.

“Javon’s going to get a lot of attention,” DeVries said. “Javon’s going to see two guys to the ball a lot any time he’s in a ball screen.”

Small was the second-highest Big 12 player in ESPN’s top 50 rankings, behind only Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson at No. 9. Small was just ahead of Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert at No. 11.

Gilbert and the No. 2 Cyclones come to Morgantown for a game in the Coliseum Saturday at 5 p.m.

For a related story, WVU’s Darian DeVries earns mid-season Coach of the Year honors.