TOURNEY TIME — WVU forward Kierra Wheeler is averaging 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game heading into the Big 12 tournament. She’s recorded eight double-doubles on the season. - Benjamin Powell

In her lone season at WVU, Kierra Wheeler is well aware of the change she’s brought to the program. As for the way the transfer from Norfolk State quickly bonded with her new teammates, well, that apparently has a lot to do with tacos.

WVU head coach Mark Kellogg, who will lead the second-seeded Mountaineers (24-6) into a quarterfinal matchup in today’s Big 12 tournament, at 6:30 p.m., against the winner of the second-round matchup between Iowa State and Arizona State, agrees whole-heartedly about Wheeler’s impact.

“Her experience has paid off,” Kellogg said. “You can tell she’s played in a lot of big games. We get on the road, and she’s not intimidated. She’s played against the Power Fives when she was at Norfolk. She’s been a really good player for us.”

To that point, a different type of player, too. In Kellogg’s first two seasons, the Mountaineers were more about quickness and playing in space. Where WVU suffered at times was around the rim when it came to rebounding and scoring in the paint.

Enter the 6-foot-1 Wheeler, the type of power forward who is built to thrive in the paint. In her three seasons at Norfolk State, Wheeler collected 883 rebounds and her nearly 1,500 points before arriving in Morgantown were mostly scored while battling around the rim.

That’s the type of toughness Wheeler brought with her to WVU. Where the Mountaineers were 12th in total rebounding last season, they moved up to ninth with Wheeler, who leads WVU at 7.4 rebounds per game.

She’s also collected eight double-doubles this season, the most by a WVU player since Esmery Martinez had 10 in 2021-22.

“I knew coming in that I wanted to be dominant in the post,” Wheeler said. “I watched them last year. I knew Kylee (Blacksten) was more of a stretch four and they never really had much of an inside play. They were more about guard play. I knew coming in I could make a difference in the paint for them.”

The marriage between WVU and Wheeler seems almost natural now. Go back to last April, though, and Wheeler said she had no idea how things were going to turn out.

“It was very scary for me, because I had been at (Norfolk State) for three years and I was very comfortable with everybody,” she said. “Going into the portal was very scary. I didn’t want to make the wrong decision, especially because I only had one year left. For me, it was more about making a decision that was based upon my goals.”

Many schools came calling for Wheeler’s services. Kellogg had to outrecruit several suitors.

“There were some battles,” Kellogg said. “She had visited us and then visited another school. There was some back and forth in trying to get it done. She was someone we knew we wanted, so we were trying as hard as we could to see if we could get over the hump and get her committed. We felt good about what she was going to bring to the table.”

Wheeler enters the Big 12 tournament having just been named to the all-Big 12 honorable mention team. She finished the regular season by scoring in double figures in five of her last six games.

Now for the taco story. Wheeler admits when she first arrived in Morgantown that she didn’t know if she would fit in with her teammates or whether or not they would accept her style of play.

That all changed one evening when the players went out for dinner.

“It was kind of mid-summer,” Wheeler told the story. “I feel like, for girls, we have to warm up to each other. A few of the returners took us out. I can’t remember the restaurant, but we all got tacos.

“We just sat down and had a really good time. I knew then this was the school for me, because I’m big on connections. I think basketball can bring you a lot of connections. We sat down and got to know each other, and that’s when I bought in. That’s when I knew it was meant for me to be here. Tacos did the trick.”