Coach Huggs continues his recruiting brilliance as he’s able to land a couple solid players who will reside in Motown in the near future.

Last night, shooting guard Dalton Pepper notified Coach Huggs that he became a Mountaineer (according to the Bucks County (PA) Courier Times). The soon-to-be senior from Pennsbury High School, in suburban Philly, is considered one of the top shooting guards in the Class of 2009. Last season, Pepper averaged 22.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and shot 50 percent from the floor as a junior. Pepper’s masterful play led Pennsbury to their first Class AAAA state semifinal berth in school history.

Described as a hard nosed competitor with deadly accuracy Pepper, in some way, is very similar to upcoming senior Alex Ruoff. The big difference is when Ruoff came to WVU he was 6′6 at a rail-thin 185 pounds as well as being under the radar recruiting-wise. With Pepper, he is well-build at 6′5″ 210 plus he’s expected to be ranked in Top 100 (even Top 50) for the class of 2009. The jury is out on whether Pepper will be the heir apparent to Ruoff at the 2 position but make very certain he will see plenty of action starting in the 2009-2010 season.

With Joe Alexander moving on to the NBA Coach Huggs was able to utilize that scholarship in his favor by bringing in a true center; one that was sorely needed. Dee Proby originally committed to Oklahoma State last fall. Then Travis Ford, a former Kentucky player under the glory Rick Pitino days, left UMass to coach the Cowboys after the resignation of Sean Sutton. Proby and Ford did not mesh at all which lead him to request a release of his letter-of-intent which was granted on April 1st. Huggs came to Proby’s aid and the rest is history.

Proby is a JUCO transfer hailing from Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. Proby averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds last season. He’s 6′9″ weighing 250 pounds. He will suit up for the Mountaineers next season. His signing last week adds to what’s already one of the best recruiting classes in school history.

As always we at www.wvmountaineersports.com would like to welcome Pepper and Proby to the Mountaineer family. They will be welcome additions that will fit in very nicely here in Huggytown.

THIS JUST IN: Another prospect will make his way to Huggytown this season. Dan Jennings, originally from Staten Island, played ball at Oak Hill Academy which has a reputation for producting quality Division I players. The 6′8″ 240 lefty center will bring in more much needed beef to the team. Jennings is rated in the Rivals Top 150 overall at 128 while ranked 19th among all centers for the Class of 2009.

Once again we would like to welcome Jennings to the Mountaineer family as we are on a collision course to win that elusive national championship.