Wheeling, W. Va. - The mission of Wheeling University is Life, Leadership, and Service with and Among Others, and one of the top purveyors of that mission is Wheeling Men's Basketball Player Curtis Harrison IV. Since first stepping on campus in the Fall of 2024, Harrison has been devoted to giving back to the Ohio Valley through his Sole Bros. Charity, while giving the Cardinals some big moments on the court. On Friday, the finalists were announced for the first-ever Ryan Turell Character & Inspiration Award, and Harrison was named as one of five finalists for the inaugural award.
Harrison is the co-founder of Sole Bros Inc., along with his friends Kellen Newman and Spencer Boyd, which is a 501C3 non-profit organization. The three were riding in the car when the idea was born to give shoes to those who were less fortunate and couldn't afford a nice pair of shoes to wear. The three met with local entrepreneurs to find out how to form the charity, and today the group had given away over 7,000 pairs of shoes to those in need across the globe. Over the last two years, Harrison has brought his charity to the Ohio Valley, hosting the Sole Bros. Shoe Drive for each of the last two seasons. After collection over 100 pairs of shoes a year ago, that number more than doubled this season as Harrison IV teamed up with Catholic Charities of Wheeling to distribute shoes to those in need across the Ohio Valley.
Along with his work off the court, Harrison played a big role in the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team's success this season that saw them go 19-9 overall and earn the #3 seed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Men's Basketball Tournament. Harrison would appear in 28 games for the Cardinals, starting 25, while averaging 7.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was able to help the Cardinals on both sides of the ball, finishing in double digit points nine times during the season, while grabbing a season-high 10 rebounds against Davis & Elkins on December 17th. One of his top performances of the season came on January 7th, 2026, against Fairmont State, where the senior finished with 19 points and six rebounds, while shooting 6-9 (66.7%) from the floor.
The intent of the Ryan Turell Character & Inspiration Award is two-fold: 1) To keep the story and legacy of Ryan Turell alive and continue to tell his story to the next generation, and 2) to provide a national platform to honor a player that has faced adversity, handled it with tremendous character and perseverance, and ultimately become an inspiration and role model for others. Ryan Turell played his college basketball at NCAA DIII Yeshiva University. During his senior year, he was named a First Team All-American for the third year in a row as well as the 2022 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Player of the Year. However, it was his work off the field that was recognized as he was a world-wide inspiration and role model in the Jewish community at large and a hero in the Orthodox Community.
"The Ryan Turell Character & Inspiration Award has tremendous meaning, and is a really special award," said John McCarthy of the Kraft Family Foundation. "Through this platform, we are thrilled to bring national attention to the remarkable stories of these five finalists. Congratulations to each and every one of them, their stories inspire us all."
The winner of this year's Ryan Turell Character and Inspiration Award will be announced on Monday, April 6th, at halftime of the NCAA Division I National Championship game.
