MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Less than a month after one prized recruit turned down the WVU basketball team for the 2010 season, another has reportedly signed his letter of intent. Reports began surfacing late Monday evening that 6-foot-10 forward Kevin Noreen will join Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers for the upcoming season in Morgantown.

In fact, it was Huggins himself who proved the deciding factor for Noreen, who likes what he has seen from the Mountaineers’ head coach.

“Playing for Coach Huggins is the primary reason why he contacted us,” WVU assistant Larry Harrison told wvillustrated.com. “He wanted to play for a coach who’s going to motivate him and push him and try to get the best out of him and Coach [Huggins] has a reputation of doing that.”

Noreen, Minnesota’s Gatorade Player of the Year this past season, visited West Virginia on Sunday and Monday, when the staff extended a scholarship offer to make him their fourth, and final, addition to this year’s signing class. Noreen joins guard Noah Cottrill, center David Nyarsuk and forward Darrious Curry as the newest members of the basketball team.

 

Huggins seemed to be as excited to bring Noreen aboard as the young man himself in a university news release Tuesday afternoon. 

 

"We are really excited about getting a player of Kevin's caliber this late in the process," says Huggins. "Kevin is a multi-skilled player who will fit in our system extremely well. With our abundance of physical low post players, Kevin's skill set should prove very valuable for our team's future."

When Noreen’s coach, Minnesota Transitions School’s John Sherman, called the West Virginia staff, Harrison admits they had to do a bit of research to become familiar with the player before they could assess their own interest in him. Their knowledge regarding a highly recruited talent was quite limited. How much did WVU know about Noreen prior to his weekend visit?

“Not that much,” says Harrison. “We see guys on the AAU circuit, but he had already committed to Boston College in the summer, so we don’t really spend a lot of time looking at guys who are already committed.”

Noreen signed with BC during the early signing period in November, but when Al Skinner stepped down as the Eagles’ head coach, the senior asked for and received a release from his letter of intent. It wasn’t long before new teams began entering their name into the hat for Noreen’s services, and his list of interested schools grew. Why wouldn't it? After a season in which he averaged 38.6 points, 16.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.9 steals and 3.2 blocks, Noreen was certain to turn some heads. 

Only, according to Harrison, he could not play for another ACC school after backing out of his contract with BC, so the list narrowed. His visit to WVU only solidified his belief that the Mountaineers were the right direction to go with his college career.
 

“We had a scholarship available and we did some research and brought him in and it worked out pretty well,” says Harrison. “He really liked the academics at the school, he really likes the campus, the players.”

And West Virginia certainly liked what they saw from Noreen, as well.

“As far as his role on our team, we think he’ll be a rebounder, a guy who makes good passes who you can run your offense through and make good decisions,” says Harrison. “With the athleticism of the guys we have – we have a lot of guys who can run and jump and are really aggressive, physical guys. Kevin can help us because he has good ball skills, he can pass the ball, he can make open shots, so he’s a little different from the athletic, running and jumping kind of guys like the guys we already have.”

When Harrison tries to make a comparison to another player he has seen, he picks out a familiar name to WVU fans. It’s also a name that would not likely be the first to come to mind when discussing a 6-10, 220-pound forward.

“He’s not Alex Ruoff, but he’s kind of like more on the Alex Ruoff side of playing as far as a guy that can move the basketball and make good passes and make open shots.”

The biggest issue facing Noreen in his transition to the college game may be his physical strength, as he is far from size West Virginia is looking for from its big men. This is precisely why Harrison feels the summer in Morgantown will be vital to determining Noreen’s role with the team in his first BIG EAST season.

“I think that’s the main thing with him is that he’s just got to get stronger,” he says. “I think we have one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country, if not the best, and we think with some added strength, he’ll be able to come in and fit in.”

The Mountaineers have now completed their 2010 basketball class, with no further scholarships available.