MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — D’Angelo Hunter’s first and only season at West Virginia ended abruptly last week when he was disciplined and left behind while the Mountaineers traveled to San Diego for the NCAA tournament’s opening two rounds.
In a Monday release, coach Bob Huggins announced the 6-foot-6 forward has been granted a release in order to pursue transfer options.
“We appreciate D’Angelo’s hard work and contributions to Mountaineer basketball,” Huggins said.
The departure was imminent after a series of tweets from the account of Hunter’s father ripped West Virginia’s coaches as “liars” and his “son’s worst nightmare.”
Hunter averaged only 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds while playing sparingly in 17 games this season after signing with the Mountaineers out of Navarro (Texas) College. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
The incident did not impact fifth-seeded West Virginia (26-10) in its first two NCAA tournament wins over No. 12 seed Murray State and 13th seed Marshall. Next up is Friday night’s Sweet 16 showdown against top-seeded Villanova.