WVU Fighting to Keep Tre Mitchell, Joe Toussaint

West Virginia interim head coach Josh Eilert and the rest of the men's basketball staff are fighting to keep this roster together.

Sunday, they got off to a great start as point guard Kerr Kriisa announced on social media that he would be removing his name from the portal and returning to West Virginia.

Now, the focus shifts heavily to re-recruiting fellow guard Joe Toussaint and forward Tre Mitchell. Both players have received a lot of interest since entering the portal last week but are open to returning to WVU, just like Kriisa.

But seeing the return of Mitchell and Toussaint isn't a sure thing. They are going to have to beat out some well-respected programs along the way.

Mitchell visited Kentucky over the weekend and there is a lot of momentum gaining between the two sides. The uncertainty of the rest of WVU's roster paired with John Calipari's history of pumping guys into the NBA is what makes the Wildcats intriguing for a player like Mitchell.

As for Toussaint, he will be spending the next couple of days on a visit to Kansas State and will follow that up with a visit to Texas Tech from Wednesday-Friday. The senior guard has also heard from Alabama, California, DePaul, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Western Kentucky.

With it seemingly being a two-team race for Mitchell, we should see a decision sometime this week. Meanwhile, a decision for Toussaint may not come about until this weekend at the earliest but more likely next week after he's had time to consider his options and evaluate how his visits to the other two Big 12 schools went.

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:

Facebook - @MountaineersNow

Twitter - @MountaineersNow and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_