The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

October 15, 2008

WVU’s gain also a boon for Mountain State Academy

By Dave Morrison

Talk about a windfall.

When Mountain State Academy’s Deniz Kilicli — the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Turkish import — decided to verbally commit to West Virginia over the weekend, Mountain State Academy’s ratings shot through the roof.

At least that’s the opinion from this angle.

It’s a boon, not only for this area in particular, but the state in general.

First of all, this area loves good basketball.

Beckley is the home of defending Class AAA state champion Woodrow Wilson.

Wyoming County has two-time defending champion Wyoming East, not to mention a storied program like Mullens.

Oak Hill has one of the best up-and-coming Class AA teams in the state, and for a long time the Red Devils were a Class AAA power.

Mountain State University played in the NAIA national title game last year, won the title in 2004 and has played in three title games in the past five years.

All those areas have one thing in common.

The locals have some diehard West Virginia University fans.

And with Kilicli’s verbal, that gives MSA two future West Virginia players, the other being Noah Cottrill, a slick-shooting junior who cast his lot verbally with WVU over a year ago.

You think attendance will go up?

“I think it’s definitely going to bring in more people to see what we’re all about,” Cottrill said. “West Virginia has loyal fans. They love their team.”

Yes, it’s going to pique interest in local loyals, but also in folks from around the state. Already, the Blue & Gold News — West Virginia’s fan newspaper — has been in town and did a feature on Kilicli.

Fans statewide have heard the buzz on statewide radio.

You may already know that Bob Huggins has been in town three times in the last three weeks. So has UCLA’s Ben Howland, North Carolina State’s Sidney Lowe and Kentucky’s Billy Gillespie, to name just a few.

That the team is attracting those types of coaches would make people want to see this talent anyway. Quick funny story: On the night that Huggins and Howland and other college coaches were in town, including former Marsh Fork standout Stephen Dye, now at Glenville State, hoops practice was delayed by an MSA girls volleyball game. So there were all these Division I coaches watching a high school girls volleyball game. Wonder if they did any scouting for their respective schools?

But the fact that two MSA players are going to WVU only increases the interest and buzz MSA will now generate.

It’s not uncommon for Mountaineer fans to drive hundreds of miles to follow their team. A couple hours to see future Mountaineers is nothing to the diehard denizens. Many fans want to scout the upcoming talent and they don’t have to drive to New York, Florida or any other state to do that now.

“I think it’s a major step for us, but we want people to know that we are bringing in kids who can go to a school like West Virginia or Marshall,” coach Rob Fulford said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”

I fully expect an increase in MSA’s ticket sales this winter.

And a word of advice. When tickets go on sale for the Oak Hill Academy-Mountain State Academy game Nov. 11, get them in advance.

That will be one hot ticket around town.

And around the state.

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