CATCHING UP WITH DALTON PEPPER

July 24, 2008

Recent West Virginia commit hones game to prepare for Big East

In was an exciting weekend for West Virginia fans as in the matter of hours, Bob Huggins and his staff secured a pair of verbal commitments from New York City big man Dan Jennings and guard Dalton Pepper from Pennsbury (PA). The NBE Basketball Report got the opportunity to chat with Pepper on his commitment to the Mountaineers.

Pepper, a 6-foot-6, 210 pound shooting guard, decided on WVU after also considering Villanova, Temple, Wake Forest, Seton Hall and Miami during the recruiting process. The Mountaineers appealed to Pepper on several levels, which he indicated when asked of the factors contributing to his decision.

“Great coaching staff, nice players, and a very nice campus,” Pepper said. “I thought it was the perfect fit for me.”

Growing up on the east coast, Pepper certainly had a good feel for the teams recruiting him in the Big East, ACC and Atlantic 10. The chance to play in the Big East was definitely a factor in his college decision.

“I'd say it’s the best league in college basketball, and there are big time players in the Big East,” Pepper said.

Pepper will now finish off his summer season with the Jersey Shore Warriors with a trip to Orlando for the end of summer festivities surrounding the AAU Showcase and Nationals. This past season at Pennsbury High School he broke his father Jack’s single season scoring record and finished with 746 points while leading Frank Sciola’s squad to the state semifinals where they fell to Chester’s nationally ranked squad. On the season, Pepper averaged 22 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game and he went over the 1,500 career point plateau, moving past his father into second place on the school’s all-time list, just 20 points shy of the record. With another season to look forward to, he will set the new standard at Pennsbury Senior High School. He is looking forward to an even deeper run in the state playoffs.

“We bring back everyone but two people, we should be even better then last year which made the state final four and lost to Chester,” Pepper said

Even with all his personal success in his career and a college decision behind him, do not expect Pepper to rest any time soon. He wants to improve his ball-handling and foot speed prior to joining Bob Huggins’ team and become even a better shooter from the perimeter to hopefully fill the shoes that will be vacated by Alex Ruoff after graduation.

“My shooting, (I’ve) been working on it everyday real hard, and i want to improve my ball handling skills as well,” Pepper remarked to the NBE Basketball Report when asked what areas he is working on the most this summer.

West Virginia fans will definitely be very happy when a dash of Pepper is added to the mix in Morgantown.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: WEST VIRGINIA

July 19, 2008


Commitment Alerts: Dalton Pepper, 6'5 G/F from Pennsbury (PA) HS and Dan Jennings, 6'8 C from Oak Hill Academy, via NYC

Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Alex Ruoff (WF)
Juniors: Joe Mazzula (PG), Wellington Smith (F), Desean Butler (WF), Dee Proby (BF/C)
Sophomores: John Flowers (F), Will Thomas (G), Cam Thoroughman (F), Jonnie West (G)
Freshmen: Darryl Bryant (PG), Kevin Jones (F), Devin Ebanks (F)
2009 Commitment: Roscoe Davis (F), Dalton Pepper (G/F), Dan Jennings (BF/C)
2010 Commit: Noah Cottrill (G), Storm Stanley (C)

West Virginia Looking to Add Some Pepper (NY Daily News), as in Dalton Pepper. Dick 'Hoops' Weiss reports that the native of suburban Philadelphia has given the Mountaineers a verbal commitment.

It looks like a daily double for the Mountaineers as Dan Jennings is Headed to the Big East (RealScout) and will reportedly join Pepper in Morgantown.

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Read More on WVU's recruiting...Click 'Read More' Below!!!

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On paper, Bob Huggins looks to have closed out his 2009 recruiting class with a pair of verbal commitments from Dalton Pepper of Pennsbury High School in suburban Philadelphia and NYC native Dan Jennings, who played last season at Oak Hill Academy.

Pepper has been a top target of Huggins and assistant coach Billy Hahn, who was previously the head coach of LaSalle, so his familiarity of the area was key in landing Pepper.

Pepper recently shined at the Hoop Group's Elite Camp at the College of New Jersey and showed he can fill it up from the perimeter often in high school. Villanova was also considered a strong contender for Pepper's services.

Jennings is a strong and aggressive inside performer who will through his body and weight around in the paint. Making an adjustment to playing a little bit away from the basket will help him at the college level as his 6-foot-8 frame and average athleticism might make things a little tougher. However, Jennings will certainly add toughness to the middle and is not one to fool around trying to do things he can not do.

Jennings was on the recruiting radar of several Big East teams, including Pittsburgh, Rutgers and St. John's, who sees another local get away from them.

The verbal commitments do put the WVU projected roster for 2009 one over the NCAA 13 scholarship limit, so that is an item to keep an eye on. We will look to verify these commitments from the normal sources and websites later this morning.

As has been speculated for a couple weeks, the Mountaineers add a late addition to the class of 2008 as JUCO transfer Dee Proby, who was let out of his commitment with Oklahoma State when Travis Ford was hired, has joined the WVU program. The 6-foot-10, 240 lb Proby signed a grant-in-aid and it is official and he will add some size to the WVU line-up for 2008-2009.

Proby averaged nearly 14 points and six rebounds a game as a sophomore at Angelina college. He will have two years of eligibility left at WVU. The skilled big man, who would rather face up from the perimeter than post up in the paint, is a native of Round Rock, TX and will now call Morgantown home to finish his college career.

Bob Huggins aggressively pursued options to close out the 2008 recruiting class. The Mountaineer fans and staff got their wish as Devin Ebanks is willing to accept a scholarship offer. Ebanks, the nation's top uncommitted player remaining in the class of 2008, recently visited West Virginia and the Mountaineers definitely helped themselves. The 6'8, 185 lb Ebanks has the versatility and talent to step into Joe Alexander's vacated role and be productive. Ebanks visited Rutgers, Memphis and Texas after re-opening the process and found the Mountaineers to be the right fit for his talents.

Ebanks is a native of NYC and played the last couple seasons at St. Thomas More in Connecticut under Jere Quinn. This past seasn, Ebanks averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in just two seasons.

Ebanks is long and lean and a versatile scorer who could fill a role similar to that of Joe Alexander if the talented WVU junior keeps his name in the NBA draft. The chance to make an immediate inpact at the college level played a big role in Ebanks decision to choose WVU over Memphis and Rutgers, his other finalists.

Ebanks joins a class with Kevin Jones, a 6'7 combo forward, as well as NYC PG Darryl 'Truck' Bryant as part of one of the conference's top classes. Roscoe Davis was originally part of the class, but it is looking like the 6'10 forward will take an additional prep year to square up his academic standing, as of know, we will list him as a tentative 2009 commitment, but there is still hope that he arrives for the fall.

The early recruiting prowess of WVU coach Bob Huggins is evident in the fact that 6'1 (rising) junior Noah Cottrill from Poca High School (WV) has made an early pledge to WVU. Cottrill is one of the top rated prospects in the class of 2010 and is now joined by his Ohio Basketball Club teamate Storm Stanley.

Stanley is a 6'10 center who is from Toledo (OH) and attends St. Francis DeSales High school where he played for coach Nick Lowe. For more on Stanley, see our recent story for an Introduction to Storm Stanley where coach Lowe gives our readers the lowdown on the Mountaineer's newest verbal commitment.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: WEST VIRGINIA

July 10, 2008

Commitment Alert: Demetrius 'Dee' Proby, 6'10 BF/C Angelina College (TX)

Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Alex Ruoff (WF)
Juniors: Joe Mazzula (PG), Wellington Smith (F), Desean Butler (WF), Dee Proby (BF/C)
Sophomores: John Flowers (F), Will Thomas (G), Cam Thoroughman (F), Jonnie West (G)
Freshmen: Darryl Bryant (PG), Kevin Jones (F), Devin Ebanks (F)
2009 Commitment: Roscoe Davis (F)
2010 Commit: Noah Cottrill (G), Storm Stanley (C)

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins Completes 2008 Recruiting Class (msnsportsnet) with the signing of JUCO recruit Dee Proby to a grant-in-aid. Also this week, WVU added a second commitment from the class of 2010 with Storm Stanley, we recently caught up with Stanley's high school coach to learn more on the future Mountaineer as well.

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Read More on WVU's recruiting...Click 'Read More' Below!!!

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As has been speculated for a couple weeks, the Mountaineers add a late addition to the class of 2008 as JUCO transfer Dee Proby, who was let out of his commitment with Oklahoma State when Travis Ford was hired, has joined the WVU program. The 6-foot-10, 240 lb Proby signed a grant-in-aid and it is official and he will add some size to the WVU line-up for 2008-2009.

Proby averaged nearly 14 points and six rebounds a game as a sophomore at Angelina college. He will have two years of eligibility left at WVU. The skilled big man, who would rather face up from the perimeter than post up in the paint, is a native of Round Rock, TX and will now call Morgantown home to finish his college career.


The early recruiting prowess of WVU coach Bob Huggins is evident in the fact that 6'1 (rising) junior Noah Cottrill from Poca High School (WV) has made an early pledge to WVU. Cottrill is one of the top rated prospects in the class of 2010 and is now joined by his Ohio Basketball Club teamate Storm Stanley.

Stanley is a 6'10 center who is from Toledo (OH) and attends St. Francis DeSales High school where he played for coach Nick Lowe. For more on Stanley, see our recent story for an Introduction to Storm Stanley where coach Lowe gives our readers the lowdown on the Mountaineer's newest verbal commitment.

Bob Huggins aggressively pursued options to close out the 2008 recruiting class. The Mountaineer fans and staff got their wish as Devin Ebanks is willing to accept a scholarship offer. Ebanks, the nation's top uncommitted player remaining in the class of 2008, recently visited West Virginia and the Mountaineers definitely helped themselves. The 6'8, 185 lb Ebanks has the versatility and talent to step into Joe Alexander's vacated role and be productive. Ebanks visited Rutgers, Memphis and Texas after re-opening the process and found the Mountaineers to be the right fit for his talents.

Ebanks is a native of NYC and played the last couple seasons at St. Thomas More in Connecticut under Jere Quinn. This past seasn, Ebanks averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in just two seasons.

Ebanks is long and lean and a versatile scorer who could fill a role similar to that of Joe Alexander if the talented WVU junior keeps his name in the NBA draft. The chance to make an immediate inpact at the college level played a big role in Ebanks decision to choose WVU over Memphis and Rutgers, his other finalists.

Ebanks joins a class with Kevin Jones, a 6'7 combo forward, as well as NYC PG Darryl 'Truck' Bryant as part of one of the conference's top classes. Roscoe Davis was originally part of the class, but it is looking like the 6'10 forward will take an additional prep year to square up his academic standing, as of know, we will list him as a tentative 2009 commitment, but there is still hope that he arrives for the fall.


Coach Bob Huggins is still moving ahead with his efforts in the class of 2009 and it looked like he was off to an intriguing start when Keith DeWitt made a verbal commitment to WVU on April 30th. However, a week later DeWitt withdrew his verbal, and although still considering the Mountaineers, will look at all his options first. With one scholarship currently open for 2009 on paper, players such as Dalton Pepper, 6'5 guard from Pennsbury (PA), who recently made a visit to WVU and could be deciding between the Mountaineers and Villanova by the end of the summer. Durand Scott, 6'4 guard from Rice (HS), 6'6 forward Kevin Parrom of St. Raymond's (NYC), 6'8 power forward Dan Jennings of Oak Hill Academy and 6'10 big man Aaric Murray of Glen Mills (PA) are also being heavily pursued this spring by the staff.


We will continue to pay close attention to the West Virginia recruiting prospects as Bob Huggins looks to make his stamp on his alma mater.

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INTRODUCTION TO STORM STANLEY

Stanley goes from unknown to West Virginia basketball commitment overnight

July 10, 2008

Storm Stanley probably did not envision being a commitment to West Virginia earlier this spring. Once the April evaluation period was complete, Stanley was still not a name on many radars, but there was definitely something that Bob Huggins saw in the (rising) junior that he liked.

Stanley recently completed his sophomore season at St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo (OH), helping coach Nick Lowe's squad to a 14-7 record last season. Since the high school season has ended, Stanley has been playing on the AAU circuit with the Ohio Basketball Club's U-16 squad where he is a teammate of another West Virginia 2010 verbal commitment, Noah Cottril of Poca (WV).

"He is a tireless worker," coach Lowe told the NBE Basketball Report via e-mail. "He works on some part of the game everyday. If he is not in the gym working you can find him in the weight room."

With most young big men, their defense is usually ahead of their offense and Stanley is no different. "He changes games on the defensive end with his ability to block shots and probably the biggest strength of his for his size is his ability to rebound out of his area," Lowe said.

Over the next two years at St. Francis de Sales, look for the offensive skills of Stanley to evolve, a process that has already begun. "His footwork and mobility are what are improving the most right now," Lowe indicated.

Stanley also has a reported 4.3 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He recently just turned 16, so he is still young for his age and with his development still in it's infancy, schools were just starting to become aware of him. West Virginia and coach Bob Huggins definitely got out in front of the curve on this one and now they can watch him develop over the next couple years before coming to the Big East. With his smarts and work ethic, expect this early gamble to pay off for the Mountaineers!

Read more!

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: WEST VIRGINIA

July 8, 2008

Commitment Alert: Storm Stanley, 6'10 (C) from Toledo (OH) class of 2010.


Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Alex Ruoff (WF)
Juniors: Joe Mazzula (PG), Wellington Smith (F), Desean Butler (WF)
Sophomores: John Flowers (F), Will Thomas (G), Cam Thoroughman (F), Jonnie West (G)
Freshmen: Darryl Bryant (PG), Roscoe Davis (BF), Kevin Jones (F), Devin Ebanks (F)
2009 Commitment: Roscoe Davis (F)
2010 Commit: Noah Cottrill (G), Storm Stanley (C)

Bob Huggins might still be working to shore up the 2008 recruiting class and is knee deep into recruiting for the 2009 class, but in his spare time the 2010 class is already beginning to be assembled. WVU Receives 2010 Commitment (Charleston Gazette), already their second, as Storm Stanley joined his AAU teammate Noah Cottrill as WVU pledges for 2010.

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Read More Ebanks and WVU's recruiting...Click 'Read More' Below!!!

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The early recruiting prowess of WVU coach Bob Huggins is evident in the fact that 6'1 (rising) junior Noah Cottrill from Poca High School (WV) has made an early pledge to WVU. Cottrill is one of the top rated prospects in the class of 2010 and is now joined by his Ohio Basketball Club teamate Storm Stanley.

Stanley is a 6'10 center who is from Toledo (OH) and attends St. Francis DeSales High school where he played for coach Nick Lowe.

Bob Huggins aggressively pursued options to close out the 2008 recruiting class. The Mountaineer fans and staff got their wish as Devin Ebanks is willing to accept a scholarship offer. Ebanks, the nation's top uncommitted player remaining in the class of 2008, recently visited West Virginia and the Mountaineers definitely helped themselves. The 6'8, 185 lb Ebanks has the versatility and talent to step into Joe Alexander's vacated role and be productive. Ebanks visited Rutgers, Memphis and Texas after re-opening the process and found the Mountaineers to be the right fit for his talents.

Ebanks is a native of NYC and played the last couple seasons at St. Thomas More in Connecticut under Jere Quinn. This past seasn, Ebanks averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in just two seasons.

Ebanks is long and lean and a versatile scorer who could fill a role similar to that of Joe Alexander if the talented WVU junior keeps his name in the NBA draft. The chance to make an immediate inpact at the college level played a big role in Ebanks decision to choose WVU over Memphis and Rutgers, his other finalists.

Ebanks joins a class with Kevin Jones, a 6'7 combo forward, as well as NYC PG Darryl 'Truck' Bryant as part of one of the conference's top classes. Roscoe Davis was originally part of the class, but it is looking like the 6'10 forward will take an additional prep year to square up his acadcemic statnding, as of know, we will list him as a tentative 2009 commitment.

There is one more possibility for the class of 2008 as JUCO transfer Dee Proby, who was let out of his commitment with Oklahoma State when Travis Ford was hired, was reportedly close to joining the WVU program. The 6'9, 250 lb Proby would add some size to the WVU line-up next season, although he is more comfortable on the perimeter. The status of Proby and Davis does put things on hold a little bit for the 2009 class.

Coach Bob Huggins is still moving ahead with his efforts in the class of 2009 and it looked like he was off to an intriguing start when Keith DeWitt made a verbal commitment to WVU on April 30th. However, a week later DeWitt withdrew his verbal, and although still considering the Mountaineers, will look at all his options first. With one scholarship currently open for 2009 on paper, players such as Dalton Pepper, 6'5 guard from Pennsbury (PA), who recently made a visit to WVU and could be deciding between the Mountaineers and Villanova by the end of the summer. Durand Scott, 6'4 guard from Rice (HS), 6'6 forward Kevin Parrom of St. Raymond's (NYC), 6'8 power forward Dan Jennings of Oak Hill Academy and 6'10 big man Aaric Murray of Glen Mills (PA) are also being heavily pursued this spring by the staff.


We will continue to pay close attention to the West Virginia recruiting prospects as Bob Huggins looks to make his stamp on his alma mater.

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Check out the College Basketball Odds to win the 2009 national championship. West Virginia is currently listed at 16:1!
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