The West Virginia Mountaineers are making a huge splash in the transfer portal, as they picked up their third commitment since the portal opened on Tuesday – and they landed their biggest fish yet this portal cycle.
Georgia Tech center Mouhamed Sylla committed to WVU basketball on Tuesday – as a true freshman, he started 15 games for the Yellow Jackets this past season before being sidelined for the year due to injury, and is currently the 26th-best transfer prospect and fifth-best transfer center according to 247Sports. And he will likely serve as the key piece of the puzzle for the Mountaineers next season.
Why Mouhamed Sylla is the key piece to the WVU basketball puzzle next season (and beyond)
Sylla has been the prized target for head coach Ross Hodge since before the portal officially opened – so it's a big deal that the Mountaineers were able to land him, especially with how things played out.
Sylla was identified by as one of the staff's top portal targets early in the process, after it was known Sylla was likely hitting the portal but long before the portal was open. And when news leaked that a WVU commitment was a foregone conclusion, some big-time programs ended up getting in the mix.
So for WVU to go the extra mile financially to make sure they landed a highly-touted big man who Hodge was eyeing early as a crucial piece of his 2027 rotation is massive for laying the groundwork for success next year. He's also the second four-star Power 5 transfer to commit to the Mountaineers in two days after Butler guard Finley Bizjack kicked off the party. And there's a reason multiple programs, including WVU, were ready to throw money at Sylla.
The 6-foot-10 center from Senegal ranked the second-best center and 17th-best player in the Class of 2025. Last year, he averaged 9.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game for the Yellow Jackets before injuries sidelined him, and he tallied five double-doubles. He also played prep ball at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, the same program that's home to current WVU commits Miles Sadler and Aliou Dioum.
"Sylla is a mobile and athletic big man with a very high defensive upside," 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein wrote about Sylla out of high school. "He has exceptional movement skills for a player his size, but also owns a rock-solid build. He's already strong and physical, but has plenty of room to continue adding muscle mass once he enters a college weight room. He's a very high-level rim protector, who can patrol the paint from a wide radius, and also move well enough away from the rim to have some versatility, particularly as a pick-and-roll defender."
"Offensively, he is going to have immediate value as both a rim-runner and lob threat. He changes ends of the floor with a fluid gate and gets off his feet with both explosiveness and power. His hands seem above average, although they could stand to improve, but he is a capable finisher with both around the rim. He's not a true low-post presence, but more comfortable making short face-up drives, typically from the high post area."
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