The Charleston Gazette Wrote:There's hope for Roscoe -- and WVU's 'five' hole
By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor
July 15, 2008

SPOKE TO WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins Sunday.

The topic of conversation was Demetrius "Dee'' Proby, a junior college center who is now signed and sealed for the Mountaineers.

"He's skilled," Huggins said of Proby. "He passes well. Makes shots facing the basket. Is the big body we've been looking for.''

Indeed, with previous signee Roscoe Davis academically ineligible and out of the picture ...

"No,'' Huggins jumped in, "Roscoe's still alive. I know last week I said it didn't look good, but now I think he's got a chance.''

That's, well, big news in regard to the Mountaineer basketball team. Or, more precisely, it could be big news.

Yes, Joe Alexander successfully took his hops and leaped to the NBA. That blows a huge hole in Huggins' team. But he believes the incoming talent, at least collectively, will make up for the loss of Alexander and point guard Darris Nichols.

If Davis makes the grade, he could be right.

At point guard, Nichols, a very steady player, is gone, but returning is Joe Mazzulla, who turned Duke's Devils blue in last season's NCAA tournament.

Mazzulla, according to Huggins, is having a summer "as good as you can have.''

And behind Mazzulla is Darryl "Truck'' Bryant, an incoming freshman who has been earning raves of late.

Of course, Alex Ruoff returns at the shooting guard spot. Huggins could also put marquee recruit Devin Ebanks there.

See, much of Huggins' task this coming season will involve juggling.

Does Ebanks start at the two-guard position? If not, does he move to small forward? If that happens, where does the coach put Da'Sean Butler, who the coach calls "in a lot of ways our best all-around player''?

What about exciting forward recruit Kevin Jones? Does he take over for Wellington Smith at power forward? If so, might Huggins play Smith at center and play small ball?

Of course, playing a 6-foot-7 junior in the middle isn't the preferred plan in the rugged Big East. Which brings us back to Proby and Davis.

Until 6-9 Proby came along, it looked like Davis, described by many as an unpolished gem, would have to handle the center duties. With no real backup.

If Davis makes the grade, however, WVU could be solid at the position. Proby could start and Davis could learn by playing off the bench.

Sounds like an improvement from Jamie Smalligan (God love him), correct?

It'll be interesting. Gone is Nichols, but WVU could be stronger at the point. Gone is Alexander, but Ruoff, Ebanks, Butler and Jones could make up for the lost points.

Then there's the promise at center.

Especially if Davis makes the grade.

Reach sports editor Mitch Vingle at mitchvingle@wvgazette.com or (304) 348-4827.

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:Early commitments allow WVU basketball recruits to focus on improvement
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sportswriter
July 15, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- By virtue of their early commitments to the 2010 recruiting class at West Virginia University, Noah Cottrill and Storm Stanley are in a unique position.

Cottrill pledged last July, before his sophomore season at Poca High, and Stanley committed last week, just after his sophomore season in Toledo, Ohio.

Should they choose to stick to their word - and both say they'll do just that - and keep the scholarship promise in the back of their minds until signing day in November 2009, they can simply focus on improving themselves instead of proving themselves.

"In a way, you're already proven," Stanley said Monday afternoon at the Summer Jam Fest inside WVU's student recreation center. "You just go out and play hard and work hard to get better. You don't have to worry about getting discovered or getting (scholarship) offers."

In some regard, the hard part is over. All that remains is hard work to live up to the premature promise. It's considerable motivation because a scholarship offer so soon in the process is based largely on a projection of what a player might be many years down the road.

"It's incentive to get better," Cottrill said. "You commit early on and you know everybody is going to be watching you to see how good this kid is."

Stanley and Cottrill wandered from their normal AAU team, the 16-and-under Ohio Basketball Club, to play for the 17-and-under West Virginia Rush on WVU's campus. Stanley, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound center, was scoreless in the Rush's first game of the tournament and struggled to fit in with his teammates.

There's a logical explanation, though.

"We've never played together," Stanley said.

The OBC is off this week as key players heal injuries before next week's national championship tournament. Cottrill said he recruited a couple of players to play this week for the Rush.

"We don't have any plays," he said. "We don't have anything in place. It's just take it and go."

That benefits Cottrill, the quick point guard who thrives in the open spaces of a fast break. He finished with 17 points - including four 3-pointers - and helped the Rush close with a flurry by making two difficult layups. The second was a three-point play in which he absorbed an obvious hack designed to keep him from scoring.

That's becoming part of the repertoire, especially when Cottrill, who turns 17 later this month, plays against kids at least a year ahead of him in school.

"It's tough to get to the rim when you're playing up, so I've tried to put on a few pounds," he said. "It's a big difference playing up. There are bigger guards and more mature players out there. It's a different game. It's harder."

Stanley felt the extra attention focused on him and spotted WVU Coach Bob Huggins, assistant Billy Hahn, Director of Basketball Operations Jerrod Calhoun and graduate assistant Kevin Schappell seated directly under a basket at the start of the game.

"I didn't play too well," he said. "I wanted to play well, and that wasn't it."

Stanley, who just turned 16, has simple goals. He needs to add muscle to his frame and hasten his footwork, both of which are things that come over time.

"You can see he's not a skinny kid and he's got talent," Cottrill said. "It's a big difference going up against older kids here. Coach Huggins thinks he's going to be a big-time player. He just needs some time to get there."

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:Mountaineers' Thoroughman credits AAU for his college basketball opportunity
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sportswriter
July 15, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Cam Thoroughman sat behind a scorer's table at the WVU student recreation center Monday afternoon next to two people he didn't know all that well.

He was still quite clearly enjoying himself as he watched the AAU action at the fifth annual Summer Jam Fest.

"I just like watching the games to see what these young kids are trying to do now," said the redshirt sophomore forward, who has pretty strong feelings about AAU basketball.

"I think AAU is real important. It's going to get to the point where high school basketball is more about pride because AAU is so big for players and coaches in recruiting. You get to see so many players in such a small area."

Thoroughman would know. There weren't many college coaches heading to see the Panthers play at Clay High in Portsmouth, Ohio, and the area AAU team, the Eastern Kentucky Thunder, never played at the premier events.

Late one summer, though, Thoroughman was called upon by the D1 Greyhounds as they padded their roster and surged to the finals of a national championship tournament. Thoroughman played only a couple of minutes per game and had orders to stand in the corner and shoot whenever O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker weren't attacking the rim.

Through it all, he realized it was time for a change. The Thunder soon dissolved and Thoroughman joined the Cincinnati Royals for the 2005 season.

"That was huge," he said. "That was everything."

His first Royals tournament was in Washington, D.C., and it was witnessed by countless coaches, including one John Beilein. The former WVU coach called Throughman a few days later to set up a visit.

"I was never really on the scene before, but after that first tournament, I started getting recruited by a lot of schools," he said. "It was like a slap in the face, like, 'Wow, what have I been missing?'"

Thoroughman doesn't deny he's where he is today because of his affiliation with the Royals. His affiliation with WVU appears stable, too.

There have been whispers about the status of his surgically repaired left knee, whispers he brushes aside.

"It's a little sore, but I just worked out," he said after a rather grueling morning with the team's new strength and conditioning coach, Andy Kettler, who started Monday after working at Winthrop. "I'm rehabbing five days a week and I'm back running on the treadmill, which is new."

Thoroughman's kneecap has popped out at least six times, and he had surgery shortly after the season ended to fix the problem, perhaps permanently.

It's been a slow recuperation, and he and trainer Randy Meador have been careful to be careful. Never have they attempted an exercise Thoroughman didn't feel comfortable attempting.

"My knee can't take much more tearing up," he said.

Thoroughman knows a serious decision awaits him if it happens again. Quality of life, both now and in the future, is something he and Coach Bob Huggins have discussed at length.

"I'm sure I wouldn't know how to take it," he said. "I can't really think about it until something like that actually happens."

Thoroughman isn't playing with his teammates in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club's Pro-Am League this summer and is aiming to return to practice when individual workouts begin at the start of the fall semester.

"That's what we're hoping for," he said. "We're making sure I don't come back until I have to. The summer is very important for athletes, but the most important thing for me now is getting healthy."