The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-3; 3-2 Big 12) have been making noise since the hiring of former Stephen F. Austin head coach Mark Kellogg in 2023. The Mountaineers won their first 13 games in Kellogg’s debut season, fueled by a defense-first identity—an identity spearheaded by guard Ja’Naiya “JJ” Quinerly.
The reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Quinerly may be soft-spoken off the court, but on it, she’s one of the country’s fiercest competitors. She defines West Virginia’s physical presence on both ends of the floor, leading the team in scoring with frequent, crafty takes to the hoop while hounding opponents in the Mountaineers’ signature fullcourt press.
For all her recent accomplishments and honors, Quinerly hasn’t been mentioned quite as often as other star guards when it comes to the 2025 WNBA Draft. There’s still plenty of time between now and then, though, for the Mountaineers to play their way into the conversation, especially with last season’s top two teams in the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas, now part of the SEC. Let’s take a look at what makes Quinerly a draft-worthy player.
Honors and statistics
As a freshman at West Virginia, Quinerly immediately flashed the defensive prowess that she’d quickly become known for, leading the team in steals per game (2.3) to go along with 8.8 points and 2.7 assists. She was elevated to the Mountaineers’ starting lineup halfway through the season and earned unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors.
Quinerly continued her ascent as a sophomore, averaging 14.5 points, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a full-time starter. She was named to the Big 12 First Team and All-Defense Team, as well as the All-Tournament Team for the 2022 Cancun Challenge, which featured other Power Five programs such as NC State, Florida State, Purdue and Oklahoma State.
Quinerly’s breakout season came as a junior, when she upped her scoring to 19.8 points and shot a career-best 46.2 percent from the field. She also averaged a career-high 2.9 steals per game and was named the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year. Quinerly was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given annually to the nation’s top shooting guard, and was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the WBCA and Associated Press.
Quinerly’s craftiness, defense make her a dynamic lead guard
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During longtime head coach Mike Carey’s tenure with West Virginia, the Mountaineers often excelled at forcing turnovers, as they tended to recruit athletic perimeter players and encouraged them to be aggressive on that end of the floor.
Quinerly may have been a Carey recruit, but she’s flourished under his successor, Kellogg. She’s gone from being a secondary ball handler and defensive specialist as an underclassman to the Mountaineer’s primary scorer, and it’s coincided with West Virginia’s best start to a season since 2021.
“We go as she goes,” Kellogg said of Quinerly after a 36-point West Virginia victory over Texas Tech. “She’s obviously the leader of this group.”
Though Quinerly profiles as a point guard at 5-foot-8, at West Virginia she operates as more of a scorer than she does as a distributor. According to Her Hoop Stats, Quinerly leads the Mountaineers in usage rate (31.7 percent), and while she’s more than adept as a ball handler—29.5 percent of her offensive possessions come in the pick and roll, per Synergy Sports—most of those plays are to get her attacking the basket with her shiftiness off the dribble than finding corner shooters or frontcourt rollers.
For the Mountaineers, this is a good thing. Quinerly is a crafty scorer who has a deep bag of crossovers and hesitation moves, insisting her way to the basket with an effective change of speed. 42.9 percent of her shot attempts as a senior have come at the rim, and nearly a quarter of her points have come at the free throw line—by far a career-high.
Highlights: Quinerly scores 31 points vs. UCF
The one thing that defines Quinerly’s game above all else, however, is her defense. It’s where she’s always excelled, and she’s fit perfectly into an ultra-aggressive West Virginia fullcourt press that’s currently forcing 14.8 steals per game (No. 2 in Division I). Quinerly is accounting for 3.2 of those steals, which she attributes to mental strengths that can’t always be taught.
“I think I have a keen sense to steal the ball, whether it’s in the air or someone dribbling in front of my face,” Quinerly explained in a preseason interview. “I definitely try to bait people into certain things.”
Quinerly also praised her teammates, citing the importance of the Mountaineers’ defense in fueling their offense and saying that the team’s press works because of how hard-working West Virginia is as a unit. She benefits from it too, individually: 23.9 percent of her offensive possessions come in transition, many of which don’t even cross the halfcourt line.
How will this serve Quinerly as a potential WNBA draftee? It’s rare that a WNBA team will run a fullcourt press, especially for the entirety of a game, but Quinerly’s defensive instincts should carry over regardless. Should WNBA coaches and general managers trust Quinerly’s floor game—she’ll likely operate more as a point guard at the next level—she could be one of the first guards to hear their name called on draft night.
Watch her play
West Virginia performed well in non-conference play, but the Mountaineers will have something to prove against fellow Big 12 teams. A Jan. 19 matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones, with whom West Virginia split two games last season, will be the team’s first nationally-televised game of the season (FOX) and a great opportunity to see two of the best players in the conference in Quinerly and Iowa State’s Audi Crooks.
Later, West Virginia will take on Ayoka Lee and the No. 12 Kansas State Wildcats (Feb. 17; FOX), who gave the Mountaineers problems in 2024 and are currently undefeated in conference play. They’ll then play the No. 11 TCU Horned Frogs on Feb. 23 (ESPN2). Both games will be crucial for West Virginia in determining seeding for the Big 12 Tournament, which will begin on March 5.
All statistics, team records and rankings for the 2024-25 NCAA season are current through Jan. 10, 2025.
