BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: WEST VIRGINIA

March 9, 2009


Commitment Alert: Casey Mitchell, 6'5 G/F from Chipola (FL) CC


Projected 2009-2010 Roster

Seniors: Joe Mazzula (PG), Wellington Smith (F), Da'sean Butler (WF), Dee Proby (BF/C)
Juniors: John Flowers (F), Will Thomas (G), Cam Thoroughman (F), Jonnie West (G), Casey Mitchell (G/F)
Sophomores: Darryl Bryant (PG), Kevin Jones (F), Devin Ebanks (F)
Freshmen: Dalton Pepper (G/F), Dan Jennings (BF/C), Deniz Kilicli (PF)
2010 Commits: Noah Cottrill (G),Bryon Allen (G)

With starting two-guard and leading three-point shooter Alex Ruoff graduating after the 2008-2009 season, West Virginia had a hole to fill on the perimter. It looks like head coach Bob Huggins took action in filling the need of perimeter offense as WVU Lands Sought-After JC Recruit (Charleston Gazette) Casey Mitchell of Chipola CC.

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

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The excitement around Bob Huggins and the West Virginia basketball program continued into Monday morning as the news broke that Chipola JC shooting guard Casey Mitchell made a verbal commitment to join the Mountaineers for the 2009-2010 season. Playing on the nation's #1-ranked JUCO squad, Mitchell was averaging 21 points a game and had schools such as Memphis, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky, among others, after his services.

Mitchell has taken a bit of a detoured route to the Division 1-A level. After being the Greater Savannah (GA) player of the year two times, Mitchell left Savannah High School in the spring of 2006 without a diploma. His bright future on the basketball court was in doubt. After plans to attend Hargrave Military Academy fell through, Mitchell spent time at Mt. Zion Christian Academy before earning his diploma at Laurinburg Institute. Still, before heading off to 1-A hoops, two years at the JUCO level was required and Mitchell has put those two years to good use at perennial power Chipola.

The relationship with Bob Huggins is also not an overnight sensation either. When Mitchell was at Savannah HS, coach Huggins was recruiting him while at Cincinnati before parting ways with the school. The former UC coach had promised he would recruit Mitchell again...promise kept.

Mitchell made news earlier this season by setting a NJCAA record by making 25 consecutive free-throws in a single game. In an overtime win over Tallahassee back in February, Mitchell eclipsed the old mark of 24 straight.

Mitchell joins an incoming class of freshmen Dalton Pepper, Dan Jennings and Deniz Kilicli. The roster currently stands at 15, on paper, for 2009-2010, so there will be some roster movement in the offseason.

Deniz Kilicli had been a hot prospect in the fall recruiting period as word had spread quickly on the Turkish import that only recently landed in the United States. Kilicli is a skilled, 6-foot-9 power forward than is attending Mountain State Academy in Beckley (WV). He will play for coach Rob Fulford with the Falcons this season. After an impressive showing late this summer at the Adidas Nations Event, schools lined up to see him workout at Mountain State this fall once word spread he had landed in West Virginia.


Kilicli joins previous 2009 verbal commitments Dan Jennings, of New York City, and Dalton Pepper, of Pennsbury (PA) in the class for WVU.

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.

Over the summer, Papper 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 early recruiting prowess of WVU coach Bob Huggins is evident in the fact that 6'1 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 Oak Hill Academy junior Bryon Allen.

Allen started his prep career off at famed DeMatha High school in the DC-area and played AAU ball in the powerful DC Assault program. After his freshman season at DeMatha, Allen made a change and joined the elite high school boarding school program at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia where he plays for Steve Smith.

i95ballerz.com reports than Allen chose the Mountaineers over Virginia Tech and Florida, who Allen indicated had offered, as well as Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Georgetown, and Florida State.

In the Huggins mold, Allen is a tough guard that likes to get into the lane. Not a great shooter out to the arc, the 6-foot-2 guard can stick the jumper from intermediate range. Also filling a Huggins' prerequisite, Allen can plan solid defense already and is likely only to improve in that aspect under Huggins' guidance.

Other targets in 2010 include Storm Stanley, 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 story from over the summer, an Introduction to Storm Stanley, where coach Lowe gives our readers the lowdown on the Mountaineer target, a AAU teammate of Cotrill. Over the summer, Stanley gave a verbal commitment to WVU, but reports are that his recruitment is open at this moment.

Also in the class of 2010, the recently completed 2009 Primetime Shootout had Bob Huggins front and center for the weekend in Trenton watching several prospects very closely. In addition to committed players like Cottrill, Kilicli and Allen, top targets included Doron Lamb, a shooting guard for Oak Hill Academy and NYC native and Mountain State Academy small forward Shaquille Thomas, a New Jersey native. Others high on the early wish list for the class fo 2010 include Dayton (OH) power forward Adreian Payne and Long Island Lutheran forward Tobias Harris.


The Mountaineers added 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, 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 and with Bob Huggins, adding talent is not a problem. Expect WVU to be one to watch as a favorite in the college basketball odds to compete for titles under Huggins and that recruiting prowess was on display as Huggins and staff got their man last spring as Devin Ebanks is accepted a scholarship offer. Ebanks, the nation's top uncommitted player remaining in the class of 2008, 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.