Huggins confirms Staten’s transfer

In addition to former Flyer, WVU coach lands 6-10 La Salle transfer.

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 10:49 PM Monday, June 6, 2011

Juwan Staten announced on his Twitter account he was going to West Virginia, and coach Bob Huggins confirmed the move Monday, giving the program a pair of Atlantic 10 transfers.

Aaric Murray, a 6-foot-10 forward, also is headed to Morgantown after two seasons at La Salle.

Both players were top-75 national recruits as high school basketball prospects.

Staten, who started all 34 games as a freshman at Dayton, planned to transfer to Penn State but changed his mind after coach Ed DeChellis left for Navy.

“Juwan gives us another guard with ball skills as we attempt to play at a much faster pace and score more points,” Huggins told MSNsports NET.com.

“He obviously passes the ball extremely well and will fit in well as we continue to increase our defensive pressure down the floor. In college basketball today, you need multiple players with ball skills in order to win big.”

Staten averaged 8.5 points and finished second in the A-10 in assists at 5.4 per game. Murray, who clashed with coach John Giannini, led the Explorers in scoring (15.2), rebounding (7.7) and blocks (2.3) as a sophomore last season.

Both players will have to sit out this coming season because of transfer rules.

“At 6-foot-10, Aaric runs the floor well, can jump and certainly block shots, and he is agile enough to fit our system,” Huggins said. “Having Aaric practice with us and learn our system this year will no doubt help him when he is able to compete the following year. Our staff is excited to have him in our program for three years.”

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