Adrian, Williams on display at Showcase
Could end up as teammates with Mountaineers

BY ERIC HANLON
The Dominion Post

Morgantown High junior Nathan Adrian was the first commitment to the WVU men’s basketball team’s 2013 recruiting class.
On Saturday, he had a chance to play against another possible member of that recruiting class when MHS faced Withrow (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the Remember the Miners’ Mountaineers Showcase, at University High School.
Withrow junior Devin Williams, who is ranked No. 92 by ESPN in the class of 2013, has received interest from WVU.
“I speak with West Virginia a lot, “ Williams said. “But I don’t have an offer on the table or anything yet.”
Williams also said he’s received interest from the likes of UCLA, USC, Xavier, Cincinnati, Illinois, Pitt, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Tennessee.
However, Williams (6-foot-8) was limited to just more than one quarter of action against the Mohigans, as the result of a minor back injury. When he did play, Williams and Adrian were often matched up against one another.
“He’s a very strong, athletic kid. He’s good,” Adrian said of Williams. “But, I think we handled him pretty good while he was in.”
Williams was equally complimentary to Adrian (who is 6-foot-9 and ranked No. 87 by ESPN).
“He’s pretty slick for his position,” Williams said. “I like his game.”
Williams finished with six points and five rebounds, while Adrian had 15 points and eight rebounds, in the 61-48 win.
On Friday Williams was able to show off his talents a bit more. He poured in 37 points and was named Withrow’s MVP in a loss to Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.).
“He’s big and strong. I saw him [Friday] and he scared me to death,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said. “He’s a very good athlete. He’s aggressive, he’s strong and he already looks like a man. He’s a handful.”
Despite being limited Saturday, Williams discussed his possible future at WVU. He pointed to WVU head coach Bob Huggins as the biggest reason he has interest in the program.
“Huggins always has a group of guys that is going to play hard and compete. That’s what I like about him,” Williams said. “I watched WVU a lot and you look at [WVU senior] Kevin Jones; since his freshman year I’ve watched him and he’s grown up a lot. That just shows me what Huggins can do for his kids.”
Including Adrian and Williams, 11 WVU recruits were at the Mountaineers Showcase.
Adrian was only able to speak with Huntington Prep senior Elijah Macon (6-foot-8), who has already signed with WVU. The opportunity to speak with the other WVU targets didn’t arise.
If it did, Adrian said he would’ve also pointed toward Huggins as the school’s biggest selling point.
“I would tell them about Huggins because WVU has one of the greatest coaches ever,” Adrian said. “You’ve seen it. What he has done is amazing.
“He’s done a fantastic job. He takes whatever he can get and molds it into a great team, every year.”

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post
MHS junior Nathan Adrian (left) fights for position against Withrow junior Devin Williams at the Mountaineer Showcase.