March Recruiting News & Notes

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Its been a little while since we've had an update for recruiting and after a long dry spell for offers and interest we finally have something to write about. Recruiting has been admittedly slow by college coaches due to the anticipated recruiting calendar and JUCO rules being legislated by the NCAA. Finally we've had enough movement to write about and promote for the West Virginia players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Committed</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1309597' first='Xavier' last='Kirk'] has made his intentions known to further his career at Division III Lebanon Valley College. Kirk had plenty of DII interest but followed his heart to LVC as their staff has done a great job of recruiting Kirk and watched him play several times this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2295581' first='Elijah' last='Pendleton'] has committed to Alice Lloyd College who offered the guard back in 2024 and got in with Pendleton's recruitment early. Pendleton had multiple suitors including Lesley University and Gordon College. Pendleton has recently eclipsed the 1000 point mark as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2208831' first='Troy' last='Anthony'] has made a commitment to Franciscan University in Steubenville OH. Anthony will be on full display during next weeks WVSSAC Boys State Tournament as a sharp shooting combo-guard for the Maroon Knights of Wheeling Central. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Offers</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2241522' first='Drew' last='Fitzwater'] has received yet another offer, this one from Gordon College. This is just the latest of many for the 6'7" senior who will play next week in the boys state tournament where he'll likely get more college coach eyes on him that could very well lead to further interest or offers. Fitzwater was also recently offered by BlueChips Nation Post Grad who will be in operation next season under coach Ronnie Nuzum. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1412065' first='Trevan' last='Bonner'] has received an offer from BlueChips Nation Post Grad, Bonner was a top target of the brand new post grad program in West Virginia. Bonner also has had strong interest accompanied by an official visit to Bethany. Bethany is currently recruiting the mountain state hard looking to complete their roster for next season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2208827' first='Navi' last='Hewitt'] was recently fielded a couple offers. First was WV's only JUCO school in Potomac St who had Hewitt as a top priority to replace graduating wings. Secondly, BlueChips Nation Post Grad has offered Hewitt for its first season. BlueChips has projected Hewitt as a Division II level prospect with a post grad year or after JUCO. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2457787' first='Matthew' last='DeGroff'] has received his first official offer from coach Ezra Drumheller and Appalachian Bible College in his home state of WV. DeGroff is coming off an impressive senior season where he's displayed himself as a solid scorer and high level passer. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2114433' first='Zyon' last='Hawthorne'] recently received two additional DI offers from Arkansas State and Bethune-Cookman. These two offers are in addition to several others Hawthorne already has. Hawthorne will be on display next week during the boys state tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1851905' first='Roman' last='Kellum'] has received an offer from Potomac State back in February. Kellum has strong DII interest from a couple in state MEC schools but a year of JUCO could drastically improve his stock. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2211912' first='JoJo' last='Greene'] received an official offer to play at United International College in Florida. UIC plays in the top division of the USCAA. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2092029' first='Coby' last='Dillon'] has just received an official offer from coach Todd May and Concord University to play basketball at the MEC D2 level. The sharp shooting point guard will get a chance to show his skill at the boys state tournament next week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Interest</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2462309' first='Brody' last='Hamric'] has started to receive early interest from Converse University in Spartanburg SC as well as Bard College in New York. Both schools are very active looking for WV based prospects. Hamric is a great combination of size, strength and skill that coaches covet in guards. Look for his interest to get heated up quickly during this spring live period in April. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2304715' first='MJ' last='Patton'] has D2 MEC interest as well as a Florida based school for a walk on spot as well as an offer from Appalachian Bible College that is also in-state. Patton ended the season as one of the state's top scorers and top ten in average assists at 6 per. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Notes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coach Bob Williams and Chris McGraw of Fork Union Military Academy will be in attendance at the boys state tournament next week. Coach Williams and McGraw are checking up on [player_tooltip player_id='2410034' first='Phoenix' last='Sickles'] (given a Thursday victory) as well as scout a handful of prospects for their post grad program. Other coaches confirmed are Concord's Drew Greene and UPike's Preston Boswell who both have recruited the mountain state in the past year. Very likely we'll see coaches from Davis &amp; Elkins, Glenville, WV State, University of Charleston, Wheeling University and WV Weslyan there as they all have recruiting targets in the mix for state tournament appearances. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BlueChips Nation has named dates for two of their recruiting events for this year. June 7th will be an unsigned senior event to be held at Capital High School and August 2nd will be the second annual Hoop Summit in Morgantown WV which was a huge success last year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->