It's hard to get to every individual news story during hectic news cycles such as transfer portal and coaching carousel season, and but that doesn't mean plenty isn't happening. Here are a few stories from the past 24 hours you may have missed all wrapped up into one succinct news roundup.
WVU loses another wide receiver to transfer portal
The Mountaineers lost a late departure to the transfer portal on Sunday, as Christian Hamilton announced he would be entering the transfer portal for the Mountaineers.
Hamilton transferred to West Virginia this past season from North Carolina, and made five appearances for the Mountaineers. He caught two passes for 25 yards, and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. He is the seventh portal departure at the position for the program.
— Christian Hamilton (@ChristianHam07) January 4, 2026
Mountaineers set to add new defensive assistant coach
The Mountaineers are set to add a new face to the program's defensive staff in Larry Knight. Knight will join the Mountaineers as a defensive ends coach, after most recently serving in the same role under Butch Jones at Arkansas State. He brings over a decade of collegiate coaching experience, with stops at Temple, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Tennessee, and Cincinnati.
The Mountaineers do not currently have a defensive end coach on staff, but employ Jeff Casteel as a bandits coach and William Green as a defensive line coach. Casteel's son and fellow WVU assistant Jake Casteel was recently hired by D2 Glenville State (WV) as a head coach, creating an opportunity for Jeff to follow his son, though no news has broken on that front yet.
Source: WVU has brought in Larry Knight to be part of the defensive staff and coach the defensive ends.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) January 4, 2026
Knight mostly recently served in the same role at Arkansas State and coached Temple, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and other schools after wrapping up a playing career at CMU.
WVU loses out on linebacker transfer portal target to Big 12 rival
The Mountaineers had a highly sought-after transfer portal target schedule to visit Morgantown in Texas-Permian Basin's Tristan Exline, who was a two-time all-conference and All-American selection at the Division 2 level. He finished this past season with over 140 total tackles,19.5 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. But unfortunately for WVU, Exline made his decision quickly, and has decided to commit to another Big 12 program in Iowa State – leaving WVU seeking for another defensive gamechanger in the portal.
🚨 COMMITMENT 🚨
— Cyclone Fanatic (@cyclonefanatic) January 3, 2026
Iowa State earns their first defensive commitment of the cycle with linebacker Tristan Exline.
Exline was a D-II All-American at Texas Permian Basin and a two-time Lone Star Conference Linebacker of the Year.
As a junior in 2025, Exline had 143 tackles, 19.5… pic.twitter.com/TLJDI5SpXm