DEVIN EBANKS: IMPACT BIG EAST FROSH

August 21, 2008


Check out the College Basketball Odds to win the 2009 national championship. West Virginia is currently listed at 16:1! Seems to be rather generous seeing they lost Darris Nichols to graduation and Joe Alexander to the NBA Draft, but, as the NBE Basketball Report notes, Devin Ebanks will be an impact freshman for the Mountaineers in 2008-2009.

Bob Huggins demonstrated his recruiting power this spring by grabbing elite recruit Devin Ebanks after he re-opened his recruitment after Indiana allowed him out of his letter of intent in the wake of the Kevin Sampson recruiting scandal. West Virginia swooped into the race for Ebanks over schools like Texas, Rutgers and Memphis and coach Huggins looks to have his replacement for Joe Alexander who has moved on to the NBA after his junior season.

While Ebanks and his 185-lb frame is not physically ready to replace everything that Alexander brought to the table, the 6-foot-8 forward has potential through the roof. He has an offensive game that can go inside and out, although he might be relying a little more on the outside early on at WVU as he looks to add strength to his wiry frame.

Ebanks walks into a perfect situation at WVU as the Mountaineers will look to replace the production of Alexander in 2008-2009. The chance to play that role no doubt had an impact on Ebanks' decision on which school he would attend. West Virginia is pretty thin in the front court and Ebanks could have a very big freshman season, at least statistically, but he will also have to adjust to the physical play in the Big East, which is something that could cause him some difficulties. This is a player that has the potential to be similar to Rudy Gay in the future, but there will be some lessons along the way.


Here is a look at more of the 2008-2009 Big East Impact Freshmen.

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NICK KINDLER COMMITS TO WEST VIRGINIA FOOTBALL PROGRAM

August 1, 2008


Trinity High of Camp Hill (PA) sends another player to the Division 1-A football ranks as 6'6, 280 lb offensive lineman Nick Kindler commits to West Virginia. The Pennsylvania Lineman Becomes the 14th Commitment for WVU (Daily Mail) and new coach Bill Stewart.

Kindler, who projects as an offensive tackle, chose WVU over offers from schools such as Connecticut, Rutgers, Maryland and Virginia, and picked WVU after narrowing his final list to include Illinois and Boston College.

Elsewhere in WVU football...

West Virginia Associate Head Coach Doc Holliday is Back Where He Belongs (Daily Mail) on the WVU sidelines. The highly coveted assistant landed a spot on the WVU staff after interviewing for the head coach opening after Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan. While Bill Stewart was given the head coaching vacancy, and the $800K that went with it, Holliday accepted the job as the #1 assistant and his $400K annual salary is a big reason why the WVU staff is the highest paid in the conference. Holliday is from Hurricane High in WV and a former player that has made his mark as one of the nation's top assistants on the recruiting scene with his work at NC State and Florida before coming back home on Stewart's staff.

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