Madison Parrish bucks the trend by choosing to remain at WVU
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MORGANTOWN - Madison Parrish likely had options presented to her last spring.
When you are a former top 100 national recruit - Parrish was ranked No. 74 nationally in the Class of 2025 by 247 Sports - that reputation never really fades.
And when her freshman season with the WVU women's basketball team wrapped up last season having played a grand total of 77 minutes, general expectations were the guard from Mason, Ohio was going to enter the transfer portal looking for more playing time at another school.
That's usually how it's handled in today's era of college athletics. Parrish proved to be an exception.
She's still in a WVU uniform these days and will be in action at 7 p.m. today, when the 24th-ranked Mountaineers host Frostburg State in the team's final exhibition game before the regular season begins on Nov. 3.
Parrish is asked why she decided to stay, a question that would never have been asked of a college athlete just a decade ago, but has become standard since the creation of NIL and the transfer portal.
Before answering, she takes a quick look around at her surroundings in the WVU Basketball Practice Facility, as if to get a glimpse of every single WVU coach and teammate.
“These people,” Parrish then replies. “They recruited me out of high school and I’ve been able to build that connection with them and, honestly, I came here to win, and we won last year. So, there was no other choice but to stay."
The Mountaineers certainly won. A 28-victory season included a Big 12 tournament championship and WVU hosted a NCAA regional for the first time since 1992.
As for this season - Parrish and teammate Gia Cooke are the only two returning players on WVU's roster - the Mountaineers appear poised to win again. Before tonight's exhibition, WVU has already faced Virginia and Virginia Tech in closed-door scrimmages and reportedly fared very well in both.
Parrish's role is expected to expand this season, but WVU head coach Mark Kellogg also went out and recruited a fistful of talent in order for the Mountaineers to make another run at the Big 12 title and NCAA tournament.
Kellogg's recruiting haul included Nylah Wilson, another highly-recruited prospect from the same Class of 2025 as Parrish, as well as former George Mason standouts Kennedy Harris and Za Za Walton and BYU transfer Marya Hudgins.
All of them will be pushing for playing time at the guard spots right along with Parrish, who played a major role along with Cooke in serving as hosts on their recruiting visits.
“We hear a lot how loyal recruits are and it doesn’t always ring true,” Kellogg said when asked if he was surprised that Parrish remained at WVU. "(The Parrish family) stuck to that one, for sure, and they thought she’d have a better opportunity if she stayed. A lot of kids should probably take that mantra. It’s easier in year two than it will be in year one, regardless of how old you are.”
WVU's long list of talented guards will mix in with some sizable forwards Kellogg also recruited, including UCF transfer Khyala Ngodu (6-foot-3), Marquette transfer Skylar Forbes (6-3), Pitt transfer Divine Tumba (6-2) and Maryland transfer Hawa Doumbouya, who stands 6-7.
Playing time will not come much easier in Parrish's second season, at least on paper.
“I’m happy that she stuck it out, and I hope she continues to earn everything that she’s getting and when she gets those opportunities to take advantage of it,” Kellogg said.
One thing is clear when it comes to Parrish's own expectations, she isn't expecting WVU to slip in the rankings or Big 12 standings.
“Teams can change from year to year, but we want to uphold the standard of a winning mentality here,” Parrish said. “Now we’re hunting for that second one.”