West Virginia Two-Sport Athlete Transfers to Eastern Kentucky

Aden Tagaloa-Nelson's time in Morgantown has ended.
West Virginia University defensive back Aden Tagaloa-Nelson
West Virginia University defensive back Aden Tagaloa-Nelson / Christopher Hall

Aden Tagaloa-Nelson came to West Virginia as a defensive back, but always hoped to play basketball and be a two-sport star at the collegiate level. He did get his chance to live out that dream, but rarely saw game time in either sport.

Following spring ball, Tagaloa-Nelson entered the transfer portal. A few days ago, he landed at Eastern Kentucky, playing 30 miles away from his hometown of Lexington.

He appeared in six career games for the football team, totaling three tackles. He spent the majority of his time on special teams while serving as a depth piece at safety.

When the whole Bob Huggins fiasco happened a couple of summers ago, interim head coach Josh Eilert struggled to fill out his roster due to many of the top transfers already finding new homes. Tagaloa-Nelson had already built a connection with Eilert before he got to campus, and after a couple of conversations with then-head football coach Neal Brown, he decided to give basketball a try as well.

He saw action in two games a year ago and then played in two minutes this past season against Arizona. He went 0/6 from the field and had a pair of turnovers.

Tagaloa-Nelson will have two years of eligibility remaining.

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.