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.