Listen.
I, along with the rest of WV Sports Nation, have to be careful reporting on such a wild story as the Kerr Kriisa arrest. It’s the ethical thing to do.
While I won’t get into the weeds legally, for everyone’s sake, this situation could get ugly. For the developing story, updated in real time by staff writer Quinn Robie, click here. Read more: This Kerr Kriisa situation could get ugly.
Former WVU Men’s Basketball guard Kerr Kriisa was arrested Friday in connection with an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud investigation tied to his time with the Mountaineers. The Estonian started and played in 23 games during his lone season in Morgantown during the 2023-24 campaign.
Prior to his WVU stint, Kriisa played three seasons at Arizona. After leaving Morgantown, he played nine games at Kentucky before finishing his college career at Cincinnati.
Now that we’ve reset the scene, it’s worth diving deeper into his time with the old gold and blue.
Off to a rough start
Kriisa transferred from Arizona to WVU, but got a late start to his run in Morgantown. He was suspended by the NCAA for the first nine games “due to receiving improper benefits while enrolled at Arizona.”
His early absence didn’t help for the first stretch of the season for an already-doomed team. Mind you, this was months after longtime head coach Bob Huggins announced the end of his tenure.
The Mountaineers started 4-5 without the Arizona transfer, but things didn’t get much better when he joined the squad. In his 23 starts, WVU went 5-18 to finish the season 9-23 overall. WVU as a whole couldn’t do anything right, combining to go 0-14 away from the Coliseum.
Kriisa’s ups and downs
While he could be efficient on some nights, scoring 20+ points four times, Kriisa struggled in several games. Even in his two best outings (February 3, 2024 against BYU, February 26, 2024 against Kansas State), the Mountaineers fell short.
The Estonian scored in single digits in 10 of his 23 appearances, looking like a shell of what he could be.
What we know
Whatever his struggles stem from, we don’t know yet.
What we do know is that the actions he allegedly committed and led to his arrest by the FBI allegedly come from his time with the Mountaineers. If there’s correlation between performance and alleged actions off the court, we aren’t sure yet.
We are reaching out to authorities in the near future for comment.
Clearing the air
Let’s go over this one more time. Kriisa, like anyone, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. He is being held in the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Kentucky, until he is extradited back to West Virginia for a hearing.
This case is in its infant stages, but I can say one thing confidently. If anything comes to fruition, there is going to be a lot of looking back on his playing career to try and pinpoint what impacts his alleged decisions had.
This isn’t a small case either. We’re talking multi-million alleged schemes.
Whatever it may be, may we all strive to be ethical and stick to the facts. It’s proper journalism.
I encourage you to follow along with Quinn Robie in our related article with updates throughout the story.
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