West Virginia University basketball recruit Noah Cottrill is headed to Mountain State Academy, and Poca High School head coach Allen Osborne said it's a mistake.
Cottrill, who scored 1,164 points in two years at Poca, was the Kanawha Valley Player of the Year and runner-up for State Player of the Year last season.
The 5-foot-11 guard, who will be entering his junior season, told the
Beckley Register-Herald "it was a family-based decision" to leave Poca and transfer to the private school in Raleigh County.
Osborne said Cottrill is getting some bad advice.
"You don't throw all the things away that he had a chance to accomplish as a player," Osborne said in a phone interview this morning. "In 10 years from now, he'll regret this decision. When he was considering making this decision, I told him he's turning his back on his school, community and teammates.
"He said he loved Poca High and that he loved playing at Poca, he told me those things.
"I spoke with Noah and his father (Rick) about the rumors," Osborne continued. "They said there was nothing to it. You just assume people are honest and up front with you."
While rumors had swirled that WVU Coach Bob Huggins wanted Cottrill to transfer for better competition, Osborne said after conversations with the Mountaineer coaching staff, he was convinced that wasn't true.
"I spoke with (WVU assistant coach Billy) Hahn and they were happy with him being at Poca," Osborne said. "They said they think he's developing as a player. They weren't encouraging him to transfer."
Mountain State Academy coach Rob Fulford also said the WVU staff had nothing to do with it.
"Obviously, I have a relationship with WVU, but Noah Cottrill's name has not come up with coach (Bob) Huggins or any of the staff. I don't want people thinking they're out trying to do that."
During Cottrill's sophomore season, he averaged 30.9 points in 23 games, hitting 83 3-pointers and connecting on 134 of his 171 free throw attempts. The Dots finished 18-5, losing to Winfield in the sectional.
Still, Cottrill told the Register-Herald the "competition is a whole lot better.
"It'll be good for me to not have to be the best player on the court every day. The competition will be better and the academic part, too."
Mountain State Academy finished 35-5 last season on a schedule that included state small schools Teays Valley Christian, Mount Hope and Montcalm.
However, this winter the Falcons are scheduled to play perennial power Oak Hill Academy (in Beckley on Nov. 11), New Jersey-based St. Benedict's and St. Anthony's, Mount Zion and the Patterson School. Mountain State is scheduled to play only two state schools this season - John Marshall at the Charleston Civic Center in the Hoops Classic and against Logan.
"We play high school teams and prep teams," Fulford said. "I want my kids to play at the highest level possible."
Fulford said he's happy to get Cottrill, who is ranked No. 45 overall in the Class of 2010 and was rated the 11th best point guard in the class by Rivals.com.
However, he said there was nothing to the rumors until recently.
"I got a text from Noah a week ago after his AAU team lost in Orlando at the AAU nationals," Fulford said. "We presented our case, told him the pros and cons and went from there.
"It's not like this developed over the last seven months."
Among the pros of Cottrill's transfer would be playing with and against better players.
"I spoke with Noah and told him he'll need to learn how to guard kids who are bigger, more athletic and stronger," Fulford said. "He will get that here."
Osborne said he supports Cottrill, although he's not sure what the star is accomplishing.
"If playing better competition is more important than being with your friends, school, community, teammates, coaches and the people who care about you, then you have my support and best wishes," Osborne said. "He won't have a chance to win a state championship or state Player of the Year. He threw all of that away."
Cottrill will have two seasons to play at MSA and said he hopes to get the school on the map.
"With the talent I've seen, we're going to be close," Osborne said of MSA, which also got a transfer from Gilbert High last year in Josh Birchfield. "I'm looking forward to playing some of the top (high school teams) in the country."
Cottrill and his father did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.com
