WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The reloading process is well under way for head coach Ben Howlett and the West Liberty University men's basketball team.
Fresh off a March Madness run to the NCAA Division II national championship game, Howlett announced today that he has bolstered the Hilltopper roster with the addition of four new faces who will be bringing significant collegiate experience to the hilltop.
Stepping out of the transfer portal and onto the WLU roster for the 2023-24 season are Darren Fergus, a 6-1 junior guard from Molloy (N.Y.); Lanyc Shuler, a 6-1 junior guard from Erskine (S.C.); and a pair of former Wheeling University student-athletes in John Korte, a 6-6 graduate transfer forward, and Ryan Reasbeck, a 6-2 sophomore shooting guard.
"We feel like we did as well as we could have hoped in working the transfer portal," Howlett said. "All of these guys have enjoyed success at the NCAA Division II level and with the players we have returning plus the freshmen we signed in the fall, we are going to have significant competition at multiple positions. I can't want to watch it all unfold."
The electrifying Fergus was a first-team NCAA Division II All-East Region selection and the East Coast Conference Player of the Year after pouring in a league-high 20.6 points per game while grabbing 7.6 rebounds and dishing out 4.4 assists a night for Molloy. He ranked among the Top 50 nationally in 12 statistical categories and hit double-figures in all 29 games. Fergus had 15 games with 20 or more points and four with 30 or more, capped by a career-high 38-point night in a Jan. 18 win against Mercy (N.Y.). He's scored 1,148 career points and has two years of eligibility remaining.
"Darren is a proven commodity in terms of filling up all the boxes on the box score," Howlett said. "He's a very quick and shifty guard who can really get to the rim. We look forward to working with him for the next two seasons."
A two-year starter at Erskine with 599 career points, Shuler emerged as one of Conference Carolinas' top five scorers (16.8 ppg.) last season while leading the Flyers in field goals made, free throws made, assists and steals. He had 21 double-figure scoring and topped the 20-point mark eight times. He tied his career high with 34 points (12-16 FGs) at Chowan in December and matched that with another 34-point game at North Greenville in January.
"Lanyc is another quick, shifty guard who can get to the rim and score," Howlett said, "but the thing we really like about him is his ability to make others around him better. He's a basketball junkie with a great knack for the game and he's what I call sneaky athletic. Lanyc really adds some quality depth to our guard position."
Korte is no stranger to Hilltopper fans. A first-team All-MEC selection last season, he ranked third in the MEC in scoring (19.6 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (7.3 ppg.). Another 1,000-point scorer with 1,049 points and nearly 600 rebounds during his four years at WU, Korte hit double-figures 24 times during the 2022-23 season with a dozen games of 20 or more points. His season highlight came in a career-high 40-point explosion that keyed the Cardinals' 114-107 upset of a nationally-ranked West Liberty team on Jan. 21.
"We have been very familiar with John after playing against him the past four years," Howlett said. "He brings a combination of size and experience to the table, which are two things we were looking for in a one-year player. He can play multiple positions and we think he'll be a big help to our team."
Reasbeck is another familiar face to local fans. A two-time all-stater at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, he came on strong down the stretch for the Cardinals last winter in his collegiate debut. He hit double-figures seven times, highlighted by a career-high 24 points in the regular-season finale, a 103-91 loss at West Liberty. He also played a key role in the Cardinals' January upset of the Hilltoppers, coming off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score 17 points in 20 minutes of game action.
"We followed Ryan through his high school career," Howlett said, "so we know he has that local toughness needed to play our style of basketball. He was a great shooter in high school and at Wheeling and he'll be a great shooter here but Ryan is also going to expand his game into other areas. He's always in the gym working to get better and we've had a lot of success with guys like that."
The four transfers will be joined in the fall by a trio of impressive freshman newcomers who signed with the Hilltoppers during the fall. Terrance Pankey and Kyler D'Augustino were All-Ohio Division II guards who played in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game while Garrison Kisner was an All-OVAC standout for Morgantown's Class AAAA state champions.
The 6-2 Pankey averaged a double-double (18.5 ppg., 10.1 rebounds) for a state-ranked Youngstown Ursuline team while the 6-1 D'Augustino ranked among the leading scorers in the state (27.9 ppg.) at Alexander High School. He was the leading scorer and MVP for the victorious South team in the Ohio North-South Game. The 6-7 Kisner was the leading scorer for West Virginia in the OVAC All-Star Game and won the Slam Dunk Contest.
