Ex-WVU 2026 Signee Kingston Whitty Lands at ACC School

One of the most underrated guards in the entire country, Kingston Whitty, is no longer coming to West Virginia, as you already know.

The Arden, North Carolina native requested release from his National Letter of Intent a couple of weeks ago, which WVU granted. On Tuesday, he shut down his recruitment again, this time committing to North Carolina State, according to Jacey Zambel of Rivals.

Why did Whitty not stick with West Virginia?

Whitty has not gone public with his reasoning, nor has he responded to our inquiry regarding the decision. It is total speculation, but in all likelihood, he probably wanted to find a way to remain closer to home. I'm not sure fit or playing time would have been a concern of his, considering he had been committed to the program since October and then signed with the Mountaineers a month later, on November 20th, the same day Miles Sadler inked with WVU.

Whitty and Sadler could have easily shared the backcourt, but Ross Hodge was probably planning on bringing Whitty off the bench as a true freshman, knowing he needed a veteran presence to play alongside his young star point guard.

NC State had to find a new head coach for the second time in as many years after Will Wade pulled a Darian DeVries, bolting (back) to LSU after just one year in Raleigh. New head coach Justin Gainey was hired on March 30th and made it very clear during his introductory press conference that he will have a major emphasis on recruiting in-state talent, which Whitty is. Whitty didn't back out of his NLI to WVU until April 10th, a little over a week after Gainey was hired at NC State.

The 2026-27 WVU backcourt outlook

Miles Sadler will be the starting point guard, of course, and will be sharing the backcourt with Butler transfer Finley Bizjack. Depending on how the rest of the roster shapes up, we could see Florida State transfer Martin Somerville in the starting lineup as well, with Bizjack moving to the three. Ideally, WVU will land a true wing and stay away from a three-guard lineup, which would give them more depth off the bench.

Ross Hodge didn't just patch things up with transfers, though. He replaced Whitty with another class of 2026 prospect in Keonte Greybear, who is rated higher on ESPN and 247, for what it is worth.

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