West Virginia transfer Kerr Kriisa signs with Kentucky
A day after landing a surprise commitment from West Virginia transfer point guard Kerr Kriisa, Kentucky announced the signing of the 6-foot-3 sharpshooter.
“Kerr Kriisa is one of the best shooters in the country,” UK head coach Mark Pope said via press release. “I feel like I’ve been recruiting him for the last five or six years since he was a prep player. He is one of the most experienced guards in all of college basketball. Kerr played on some great Arizona teams and then, last year, in the hallowed halls of West Virginia. He has a competitive spirit that overflows in every way conceivable. Kerr will have a massive impact on our team on the court and in the locker room. Kentucky fans are going to love his bold personality.”
Kriisa is a native of Estonia who started his college career at Arizona, where he signed as a four-star prospect ranked the 69th best player in the country and 12th best point guard in the 247sports’ 2020 class rankings.
As a true freshman, he played in just eight games for Arizona, but as a sophomore, he played in 33 and started 31 for Arizona, in which he averaged 9.7 points per game, 4.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 34.8 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from three in Tommy Lloyd’s debut season as head coach.
In his junior season of 2022-23, Kriisa played in all 35 games and started 34 for Arizona. He averaged 9.9 points per game, 5.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 37.2 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three. The season saw Arizona win the PAC 12 Tournament title and earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This past season, Kriisa played at West Virginia where he started all 23 games he played in for the Mountaineers as he missed nine games after being suspended for accepting impermissible benefits while at Arizona.
The 6-foot-3 point guard averaged a career-high 11.0 points per game, 4.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 steals while shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from three and 77.5 percent from the free throw line.
He scored a season-high 25 points in a loss to Kansas State, scored 24 and grabbed five rebounds in a loss to Pope and BYU and logged a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists in a victory over Toledo.
Kriisa, who is a four-star transfer prospect ranked the 125th best transfer in the country and 27th best point guard in the 247Sports transfer rankings, will have one season of eligibility to use in Lexington.
He is the Cats seventh transfer portal addition of the offseason joining forwards Amari Williams (Drexel), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest), Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State) and Otega Oweh (Oklahoma) and guards Koby Brea (Dayton) and Lamont Butler (San Diego State).
Overall UK now has nine players signed on for the 2024-25 season, as incoming four-star freshmen guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry are also on board.
