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JJ Quinerly is the college basketball star you’ve been missing—wholesome, relentless, and making her mark.
Let me introduce you to the senior guard at West Virginia, a player who would do anything for the people she holds close, the ones fortunate enough to have earned their place in her inner sanctum. In an ever-changing world, one that she adapts to effortlessly and with remarkable grace, it’s the tight-knit community of Morgantown that has kept Quinerly grounded.
“I’m closer to home, and I always wanted my family to come to my games,” Quinerly shared with me about the town that calls WVU’s campus home. “The fanbase here keeps me grounded. They see you at the grocery store, out in the community. I always wanted to be at a school where I could make a name for myself, and where I could help put that team on the map. [Achieving things no one expected]—that was a big, big thing for me.”
And make a name for herself she has. Starting in second grade when she joined AAU, she was met with a consistent love, passion and skill for the game of basketball.
“As soon as I got on the court I fell in love with [the game]. The game was fun,” Quinerly said. “Honestly just having fun. Obviously I love the game and I want to win them, I’m a competitive person, but I love to just have fun with it because that’s when I’m at my best.”
Since those early days, Quinerly’s attention to detail and tenacity for her craft have grown. The next benchmark was on the Lake Taylor High School basketball team in Norfolk, Virginia, under the tutelage of Coach Saundra Sawyer.
“I think Coach Sawyer taught me toughness,” Quinerly remembered. “She also pressed for 40 minutes so I definitely learned that from her. Just getting into people, that defensive-minded team just going out there, steals, all that. She always taught us never to take our foot off the gas.”
That meticulous, aggressive approach to defending is what makes her one of the best on-ball backcourt defenders in the nation, especially in the press. Quinerly is seventh in the nation in steals percentage and fourth amongst scoring point guards in defensive rating, per hoops-explorer. But if you ask her, she won’t identify as a defensive or offensive first player, despite those lockdown defensive numbers or her career 15.5 points per game (PPG). She’ll simply tell you it’s whatever the team’s need-du-jour that matters most.
“I would say it depends on what’s needed at the moment. At the end of the day, I love defense, don’t get me wrong. I really love defense because my defense helps my offense for sure, but it definitely speaks to what’s going on in the situation. If we need a steal, alright, if we need a bucket, alright I can get that, If we need a rebound I can get that, so yeah tell me what to do I will do it.”
Quinerly describes herself as a construct of opposites. “As a person, [I’m] definitely family-oriented, very supportive of people,” Quinerly explained to me. “I care for people a lot, [I’m] very chilled [and]quiet. I wouldn’t just be the one in the room just talking. I’m probably going to be the one looking around, watching, listening, and trying to read people and stuff like that. “
But when she describes herself as a player, it’s like you’re hearing about someone entirely different. “On the court, I would say intensity, ” Quinerly reflected on her style of play. “I’m a dawg, I’m ready to go. I’m probably screaming if I didn’t hit a shot, totally different from how I would act off the court.”
Quinerly’s deep love for people has sparked an unquenchable curiosity about the human experience. As a criminology major and psychology minor, she’s become an elite observer of those around her, always watching, learning, understanding. These passions, woven into the fabric of who she is, have made her as adaptable to change as any player could be.
In her three and a half seasons thus far at WVU, she’s had three head coaches, not to mention the myriad of others in her previous stops in amateur basketball. So amongst all the turnover, ironic for a player who loves to create them, how does she remain so consistent and adaptable?
Communication above most else.
“I would say you’re just talking to [the coaches]. Of course, we had meetings and stuff like that, and [coaches have]told me what [the]expected out of me. I think for me having all three coaches I made sure that whatever that coach wanted out of me I was going to do no matter what and whatever players came in or whatever I was going to beat that player out.”
It’s that competitive drive to be the best that has lifted her to the player she has become in Morgantown. For years, Quinerly has leaned on her family as her support system, routinely having talks to remind her about “staying in the moment and being free of mind.”
In a sport where change is often a disruption, Quinerly has found a peculiar rhythm within its chaos. A master of creating turnovers on the court, her supernatural ability to force mistakes out of opponents mirrors her journey—a trail marked by routine turnover. With each new coach came a different playbook, another shifting strategy; she has always adapted, carving her own space in the flux. While others might falter under the weight of reinvention, Quinerly thrives in it, her game molded by the tension of new beginnings.
In these transitions—be they shifts in direction or unexpected pivots—she reveals her truest strength, a quiet defiance of the unpredictability that often leaves others stumbling. The ball doesn’t lie, and neither does she; she’s learned to capitalize on the rhythm of change, turning each moment of upheaval into a calculated step toward mastery.
It’s what makes her instincts, especially on the defensive side of the ball, so compelling. Her disruptive nature on that end of the floor perfectly mirrors her experience, but the all-adaptive one takes it all in stride.
“I would say as a kid like playing outside with my brothers usually, probably playing football so a lot of the time [I was] playing safety or DB or something just [learning]those [defensive]instincts,” Quinerly said. ”Like I said, we pressed for 40 minutes so there’s ‘alright, I’m keeping that hand on that crossover,’ ‘I’m going to get that don’t cross in front of me.’ Ball in the air, I’m baiting it, going to get that skip pass. Just the little things like that.”
As Quinerly heads into her final stretch of Big 12 conference play, the budding entrepreneur has goals both on and off the court.
“I definitely want to win the conference championship,” Quinerly said about her basketball goals. “I want to be the Big 12 Champions and see what we can do in the NCAA Tournament. I think we can make it at least to the Sweet 16. Skill-wise I would love to just keep developing my game. Push myself to all my limits, like my three-point shot definitely [has]to get better. [I’m] still working on my mid-range game. I would say my defense too; just anything. I think everything can be developed and having different coaches is a plus because you get to work on lots of different things so definitely looking forward to developing all around.”
And if that weren’t enough, Quinerly, despite being a player on the rise as a WNBA prospect, has plenty of post-basketball life goals too, including, in the immediate future, deciding whether or not to buy a vending machine with her roommate.
As for life after ball? “I know for sure that my brother actually has a realtor company. I want to work with him. I want to get a couple of 18-wheelers, just little businesses [and]investments like that. My girlfriend wants to work with special needs kids, like with sports or something like that, so I told her I definitely [will]help her try to get into it. Just really little things like I want to help people for sure.”
Always focusing on her people. And in return, relying upon her inner circle, Quinerly’s made herself into the chameleon on the court, seamlessly shifting her game to blend into any situation, effortlessly adapting to whatever challenge comes her way.
“I think that speaks to just how coachable I am. Under [former WVU head coach Mike]Carey and his philosophy, {which was] totally different from [former WVU head coach]Dawn [Plitzuweit]’s and [current WVU head coach Mark]Kellogg’s, so me being able to adapt to any situation that’s given to me, whether the team wants to drive and we’re not pressing or we plan on playing zone or whatever I can switch my mind. I know I can play, I can move within those areas and stuff like that. If the team we’re playing is more of a shooting team, alright, I can play outside of the three-point line. It’s the little things like that if it is whatever coach wants I’ll be able to do. That’s how I feel like having those coaching changes definitely gave me that ability.”
All stats through January 14. Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of HerHoopStats.
